Mongooses
| Mongooses | ||||||||||||
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Zebra mongoose ( Mungos mungo ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Mongooses | ||||||||||||
| É. Geoffroy & G. Cuvier , 1795 |
Mungos is a genus of the mongoose family(Herpestidae). However, this genus does not include theanimalscalled mongoose in German(these are included in the genus Herpestes ), but two species living in Africa:
- the zebra mongoose ( Mungos mungo ) and
- the Gambian mongoose ( Mungos gambianus ).
The animals of this genus have a rough, gray-brown fur; the zebra mongoose have characteristic light horizontal stripes. They live in groups of mostly 10 to 20 animals and often build their burrows in abandoned termite mounds or burrows in other animals. Their diet consists mainly of beetles and bipeds , but they also eat a variety of other small animals.
The species are classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature ( IUCN) according to the Red List of Threatened Species .
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0-8018-5789-9
Web links
- Search for "mongooses" on IUCN's 2009 Red List of Threatened Species . Retrieved January 26, 2010.