Fig 1
Fig 2
Fig 3
Fig 4
Fig 5
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Order : CARNIVORA
Family : Viverridae
Species : Arctogalidia trivirgata
Head-body length : up to 53 cm
Tail length : up to 66 cm
Weight : up to 2.5 kg This small species of
civet is also called the Three-striped Palm Civet. It occurs in primary
rainforest and adjacent secondary forest, is nocturnal and almost exclusively
arboreal.
Its fur colour is predominantly greyish (sometimes reddish-brown), becoming paler
and somewhat yellowish around the neck and on the belly. Its facial fur is black,
but in some specimens or populations there is a narrow pale stripe on the
forehead.
Three dark stripes, or rows of broken spots, extend from the neck to the base of the tail :
these may be hard to see when the animal is in profile. Its tail is dark, longer
than its head-body length, and somewhat prehensile.
The diet of this species is varied and omnivorous: it eats forest fruits,
various insects, and a wide range of vertebrate prey such as frogs, birds
and arboreal mammals such as squirrels taken from the nest.
In mainland Asia, the species occurs in parts of northeast India (Assam),
southern China, northern Myanmar, Thailand, Indochina, Peninsular Malaysia and
Singapore. Offshore its range extends to the islands of Sumatra, Java,
Bali and Borneo.
It seems likely that the genus Arctogalidia represents a number of
geographically separated species (Wilcox et al, 2016).
Figs 1 and 2 :
A Small-toothed Palm Civet explores forest edge habitat in
Peninsular Malaysia.
Figs 3 and 4 : Other examples from Peninsular Malaysia.
Note the three stripes on the back.
Fig 5 : The fleshy pads beneath the feet, which give arboreal civets
excellent grip whilst climbing trees, can be clearly seen in this example
from Singapore.
References :
Francis, C.M. 2019. A Field Guide to the Mammals of South-east Asia. Second
Edition. New Holland. 416 pp.
Lekagul, B., McNeely, J., 1977. Mammals of Thailand. Association for the
Conservation of Wildlife, Thailand. 758 pp.
Willcox, D.H.A., Duckworth, J.W., Timmins, R.J., Chutipong, W., Choudhury,
A., Roberton, S., Long, B., Hearn, A. & Ross, J. (2016). Arctogalidia
trivirgata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016
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