White Nosebacks
| White Nosebacks | ||||||||||||
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Piglet sack ( Conepatus leuconotus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Conepatus | ||||||||||||
| Gray , 1837 |
The hog-nosed skunk ( Conepatus ), and pig nose Skunks or piglets Skunks called, are a predatory species from the family of skunks or skunks (Mephitidae). The genus includes four recent species that are distributed on the American continent from the southern United States to Patagonia . In addition, five fossil species are known.
features
The name-giving feature of the White- legged Skunk is the protruding, hairless snout, which is reminiscent of the snout of pigs and which distinguishes the animals from the other Skunk genera. The skunk's fur is predominantly black, along the back a white stripe extends from the upper part of the head to the tail, and the tail is also mostly white. Especially in the southern part of its range there is a morph in which the stripe splits into two parts and leaves a brown-black back field free, which is reminiscent of the pattern of the stripe sunk.
Like all skunks, they have an elongated body with a bushy tail and short, stocky legs. The largest members of their family belong to this genus, piglet skunks reach a head body length of 30 to 50 centimeters, a tail length of 16 to 41 centimeters and a weight of 2.3 to 4.5 kilograms.
Way of life
These animals live in tree-covered areas as well as in grasslands and mountain regions up to over 4000 meters above sea level, but they avoid dense forests. They are crepuscular or nocturnal and during the day they retreat into crevices, hollow tree trunks or burrows that they have taken over from other animals. At night they go in search of food, moving more leisurely and almost never climbing trees. They live mostly solitary, but their territories can overlap.
Like all skunks , these animals have anal glands , from which they can inject a penetrating smelling secretion against attackers.
food
White-nosed kunks are omnivores that feed on vertebrates such as birds , lizards and snakes , insects and other invertebrates, as well as plant material such as fruits. With the help of their long snouts and the claws of their front paws, they rummage through the ground in search of something to eat.
Reproduction
The gestation period of the white-nosed kunks is around 40 to 60 days, the differences may be due to a dormancy . The litter size is two to six, the newborns are initially blind and helpless, but grow quickly and are weaned after a few weeks. They are sexually mature after a year.
Systematics
The following four recent species belong to the genus of the white-nosed kunks :
| German name | Scientific name | distribution | Hazard level Red List of IUCN |
Remarks | image |
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| Andean skunk |
Conepatus chinga ( Molina , 1782) |
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 ( Least Concern - not at risk)
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7 subspecies Lives in central South America, from central Peru and central Brazil to Chile and northern Argentina |
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| Patagonian skunk |
Conepatus humboldtii J. E. Gray , 1837 |
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( Least Concern - not at risk)
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3 subspecies Is native to Patagonia , i.e. southern Argentina and Chile |
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| Piglet kunk |
Conepatus leuconotus ( Lichtenstein , 1832) |
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( Least Concern - not at risk)
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3 subspecies
It is distributed from southern Colorado and Texas to Nicaragua , Conepatus mesoleucus is a synonym |
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| Amazon Skunk |
Conepatus semistriatus ( Boddaert , 1785) |
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( Least Concern - not at risk)
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6 subspecies Come in southern Mexico, northern South America to northern Peru and eastern Brazil before |
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In addition to these species still alive today, several fossil species are known:
- Conepatus altiramus is an extinct species of white- nosed buffalo from the Pliocene of Argentina.
- Conepatus primaevus lived in the Pleistocene region around Buenos Aires .
- Conepatus robustus is a fossil species from the Rancho La Brea site .
- The extinct Sanmiguel Skunk ( Conepatus sanmiguelensis ) lived in the early Pliocene (outgoing Hemiphilium ) in what is now central Mexico.
- Conepatus talarae comes from the Late Pistocene of the Peruvian Talara.
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Phylogenetic systematics of the Skunks
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The first scientific description of the genus comes from John Edward Gray from 1837, who chose the Patagonian Skunk, which he also first described in that year, as the type species.
The Weißrüsselskunks represent in their entirety the sister group of the genera of the Striped Skunks ( Mephitis ) and Fleckenskunks ( Spilogale ) which are widespread in North and Central America . The separation of the line, which led to the Weißrüsselskunks, from the ancestors of the other species occurs at a point in time Dated about 16 million years ago, the radiation of the species within the Belarusian kunks took place about 11.2 million years ago. This resulted in immigration to the South American continent long before the Central American land bridge was formed about 3 million years ago. The oldest known fossils of the white-legged scunks come from Conepatus sanmiguelensis from central Mexico from the early Pliocene about 3 to 4 million years ago. In South America, the genus was first detected in Argentina about 2.5 million years ago.
Within the Belarusian Skunk, the Andean Skunk and the Piglet Skunk as well as the Patagonian Skunk and the Amazon Skunk are each sister species.
The generic name Conepatus is derived from the Spanish name conepate or conepatl for skunks. Conepatl, in turn, could have developed from the word nepantla from the Aztec Nahuatl language , which designates an underground structure.
supporting documents
- ↑ Conepatus chinga in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Posted by: L. Emmons, K. Helgen, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2013 ..
- ↑ a b c d Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Mephitidae in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
- ↑ Conepatus humboldtii in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Posted by: L. Emmons, K. Helgen, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2013 ..
- ^ Conepatus leuconotus in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Posted by: AD Cuarón, F. Reid, K. Helgen, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2013 ..
- ^ Conepatus semistriatus in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2013.1. Posted by: AD Cuarón, F. Reid, K. Helgen, 2008. Retrieved August 7, 2013 ..
- ↑ a b c d Katrin Nyakatura, Olaf RP Bininda-Emonds: Updating the evolutionary history of Carnivora (Mammalia): a new species-level supertree complete with divergence time estimates. BMC Biology 10, 2012, doi : 10.1186 / 1741-7007-10-12 .
- ↑ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Conepatus ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
- ↑ Xiaoming Wang, Óscar Carranza-Castañeda: Earliest hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus (Mephitidae, Carnivora), from the early Pliocene of Guanajuato, Mexico and origin of South American skunks. In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 154, No. 2, 2008; Pp. 386-407, doi : 10.1111 / j.1096-3642.2008.00411.x .
- ↑ a b Jerry W. Dragoo, Steven R. Sheffield: Conepatus leuconotus (Carnivora: Mephitidae) . In: Mammalian Species . tape 827 , 2009, p. 1-8 , doi : 10.1644 / 827.1 .
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, ISBN 0801857899 .
- Jerry Dragoo: Family Mephitidae (Skunks) In: Don E. Wilson & Russel Mittermeier (Eds.) Handbook of the Mammals of the World Volume 1: Carnivores . Lynx Edicions, 2009, ISBN 978-84-96-553-49-1 .
- Xiaoming Wang, Óscar Carranza-Castañeda: Earliest hog-nosed skunk, Conepatus (Mephitidae, Carnivora), from the early Pliocene of Guanajuato, Mexico and origin of South American skunks. In: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 154, 2008. pp. 386-407.
