SPECIES OF THE MONTH: OCTOBER

DURRELL' VONTSIRA 

Phylum   : Chordata
Class      : Mammalia
Order     : Carnivora
Family    : Eupleridae
Genus     : Salanoia
Species   : Salanoia durrelli


The point of this article is to announce the publication of a new, living euplerid species: Salanoia durrelli Durbin et al., 2010, discovered in the marshes around Lake Alaotra in central-eastern Madagascar. It was identified by scientists at the Natural History Museum, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT) and Conservation International (CI). The small mongoose-like animal is about the size of a cat. It is only known in Madagascar, and it is likely to be one of the most threatened carnivores in the world.


The most well-known member of this family is the Fossa, which is the largest of the Madagascan carnivores. The new species has been named Durrell’s vontsira, Salanoia durrelli, in honour of Gerald Durrell, the conservationist and writer who died 15 years ago. Traditionally, the Fossa, Falanouc and so on were regarded as peculiar civets (that is, they were included in Viverridae) while the Madagascan 'mongooses' were classified as, well, mongooses (as part of Herpestidae).


Salanoia durrelli most closely resembles the brown-tailed mongoose, which is a small, gracile mongoose-like carnivoran. It is reddish brown overall, paler than the brown-tailed mongoose. The head and nape are speckled.The underparts are reddish buff, not brownish as in the brown-tailed mongoose. Most of the tail is similar in color to the body, but the tip is yellowish brown. The inner side of the well-furred external ear (pinna) is reddish buff.


The unique habitat of  this is threatened by pollution, destruction of marshes for the construction of rice fields, overfishing, and introduced species such as exotic fish, plants, the black rat (Rattus rattus), and the small Indian civet (Viverricula indica), another small carnivoran.As a narrowly distributed species with a small population, S. durrelli is likely to be threatened by degradation of its habitat but its conservation status has not yet been formally assessed.

Ref: http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/08/new_mad_mongoose.php