Royal genette
| Royal genette | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Genetta poensis | ||||||||||||
| Waterhouse , 1838 |
The king genette ( Genetta poensis ) is a little researched crawling cat from the genus of genets ( Genetta ). It is known only from ten museum specimens, the last of which were collected in 1946.
features
The ten known specimens have an average head-trunk length of 60.2 cm, a tail length of 41.5 cm and a weight of 2 to 2.5 kg. The build is robust. The short, rough fur on the back varies from light yellowish-gray to yellow. The peritoneum is white-yellowish to gray. The neck stripes are not clearly outlined. The running mid-back line is dark and starts behind the shoulders. There is no back mane. The elongated and angular back spots are completely dark and fused in different places on the body. The face has a well-defined mask with whitish spots above and below the eyes and a thin, dark vertical line on the muzzle. The ears have a broad base and are slightly rounded. The thickly hairy tail has four to six light rings. The proximal half of the tail is dark. The hind and front legs are dark and well spotted. The front and rear feet are spotted on the top and dark on the underside.
Occurrence, habitat and way of life
The royal genette inhabits rainforests in Liberia , Ivory Coast , Ghana , Bioko and the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Nothing is known about their way of life.
status
The IUCN classifies the king genette in the category of “insufficient data” ( data deficient ). Nothing is known about their range and habitat requirements. However, since the identification of genet cats at the species level is often complicated and this species was temporarily synonymous with the leopard genette ( Genetta pardina ), it is possible that the king genette is more common than previously assumed. Habitat destruction and reenactment for the bushmeat market are widespread in the area of distribution. Therefore new expeditions are necessary to determine an adequate population status.
literature
- Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 1: Carnivores. Lynx Edicions, 2009, ISBN 978-84-96553-49-1 .
- Donovan Reginald Rosevear : The Carnivores of West Africa . Trustees of the British Museum (Natural History). London 1974: p. 212-214 ( online )
- Don E. Wilson, DeAnn M. Reeder (Eds.): Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd edition) . Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005.
