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family of mammals in Africa and Asia
This article is about the mongoose family Herpestidae. For Malagasy mongooses, see Galidiinae. For other uses, see Mongoose ( disambiguation )
A mongoose is a modest tellurian carnivorous mammal belong to to the family Herpestidae. This family is presently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southerly Europe, Africa and Asia, whereas the Mungotinae comprises 11 species native to Africa. [ 2 ] The Herpestidae originated about in the early Miocene and genetically diverged into two main familial lineages between 19.1 and. [ 3 ]

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etymology [edit ]

The English word “ mongoose ” used to be spelled “ mungoose ” in the 18th and 19th centuries. The name is derived from names used in India for Herpestes species : [ 4 ] [ 5 ] [ 6 ] [ 7 ] muṅgūs or maṅgūs in classical Hindi ; [ 8 ] muṅgūsa in Marathi ; [ 9 ] mungisa in Telugu ; [ 10 ] mungi, mungisi and munguli in Kannada. [ 11 ] The form of the English name ( since 1698 ) was altered to its “ – goose “ ending by folk etymology. [ 12 ] The plural form is “ mongooses ”. [ 13 ]

Characteristics [edit ]

Mongooses have retentive faces and bodies, small, round ears, shortstop leg, and long, tapering tails. Most are brindled or grizzly ; a few have strongly marked coats which bear a strike resemblance to mustelids. Their nonretractile claws are used chiefly for digging. Mongooses, much like goats, have narrow, ovular pupils. Most species have a bombastic anal scent gland, used for territorial cross off and signaling generative status. The alveolar consonant rule of mongooses is 3.1.3–4.1–23.1.3–4.1–2. They range from 24 to 58 curium ( 9.4 to 22.8 in ) in head-to-body length, excluding the tail. In weight, they range from 320 gram ( 11 oz ) to 5 kg ( 11 pound ). [ 14 ] Mongooses are one of at least four know mammalian taxonomic group with mutations in the nicotinic acetylcholine sense organ that protect against snake venom. [ 15 ] Their modified receptors prevent the snake malice α-neurotoxin from binding. These represent four separate, independent mutations. In the mongoose, this change is effected, uniquely, by glycosylation. [ 16 ]

taxonomy [edit ]

Herpestina was a scientific name proposed by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1845 who considered the mongooses a subfamily of the Viverridae. [ 17 ] In 1864, John Edward Gray classified the mongooses into three subfamilies : Galidiinae, Herpestinae and Mungotinae. [ 18 ] This group was supported by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1919, who referred to the family as “ Mungotidae ”. [ 19 ] Genetic research based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analyses revealed that the Galidiinae are more close related to Madagascar carnivores, including the fossa and Malagasy civet. [ 20 ] [ 21 ] Galidiinae is soon considered a subfamily of Eupleridae. [ 22 ]

phylogenetic relationships [edit ]

In 1989, zoologist W. Christopher Wozencraft noted that while the phylogenetic relationships in Mungotinae were obscure, studies in the latter part of twentieth hundred supported two monophyletic clades in Herpestinae : one consist of Atilax and Herpestes, and the other constitute Bdeogale, Ichneumia and Rhynchogale. [ 52 ] Like other feliformian carnivorans, mongooses descended from the viverravines, which were civet- or genet -like mammals. The phylogenetic relationships of Herpestidae are shown in the follow cladogram : [ 53 ] [ 3 ]

extinct species [edit ]

Atilax Cuvier, 1826

†A. mesotes pitcher 1956

Herpestes Illiger, 1811
Leptoplesictis Major, 1903 [ 54 ]

†L. atavus Beaumont, 1973
†L. aurelianensis Schlosser, 1888
†L. filholi Gaillard, 1899
†L. mbitensis Schmidt-Kittler, 1987
†L. namibiensis Morales et al., 2008
†L. peignei, Grohé et al., 2020
†L. rangwai Schmidt-Kittler, 1987
†L. senutae Morales et al., 2008

Behaviour and ecology [edit ]

Mongooses largely feed on insects, crabs, earthworms, lizards, birds, and rodents. however, they besides eat eggs and carrion. [ 55 ] Some species can learn simpleton tricks. They can be semi- domesticated and are kept as pets to control vermin. [ 56 ]

cultural significance [edit ]

In ancient Mesopotamia, mongooses were sacred to the deity Ninkilim, who was conflated with Ningirama, a deity of charming who was invoked for protection against serpents. According to a babylonian popular state, when a mouse fled from a mongoose into a serpent ‘s trap, it announced, “ I bring you greetings from the snake-charmer ! ” A creature resembling a mongoose besides appears in Old Babylonian glyptic artwork, but its meaning is not known. [ 57 ] The Buddhist deity of wealth Vaiśravaṇa, or Dzambala for Tibetans, is frequently depicted holding a mongoose that is spitting jewels from its mouth. [ 58 ] The Hindu god of wealth, Kubera is often portray holding a mongoose in his exit hand, hence the spy of a mongoose is considered lucky by some. [ 59 ] All mongoose species, except for Suricata suricatta, are classed as a “ forbid new organism ” under New Zealand ‘s hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, preventing them from being imported into the area. [ 60 ]
A long-familiar fictional mongoose is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, who appears in a unretentive history of the lapp title in The Jungle Book ( 1894 ) by Rudyard Kipling. In this narrative set in India, a unseasoned favored mongoose saves his human family from a krait and from Nag and Nagaina, two cobras. The report was subsequently made into several films and a song by Donovan, among other references. A mongoose is besides featured in Bram Stoker ‘s novel The Lair of the White Worm. The main fictional character, Adam Salton, purchases one to independently hunt snakes. Another mongoose features in the denouement of the Sherlock Holmes narrative “ The gamble of the Crooked Man “, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The indian Tamil devotional movie Padai Veetu Amman shows Tamil actor Vinu Chakravarthy changing himself into a mongoose by using his evil tantric mantra, to fight the goddess Amman. however, the mongoose last dies at the hands of the goddess. The mongoose is a forbidden animal in the United States. however, the 1962 case of “ Mr. Magoo ” became an exception. It was brought to Duluth, Minnesota by a merchant mariner and faced being euthanized. A populace campaign to save it resulted in the interposition of Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, who exempted Magoo from the regulations. Magoo lived on display as the most popular attraction of the Lake Superior Zoo, dying of old age in 1968. [ 61 ] Pablo Neruda had a pet mongoose named Kiria while he lived in Colombo. Kiria had the habit of following the poet everywhere. however, after Neruda moved to Jakarta, Kiria disappeared and was never seen again. [ 62 ]