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Mongooses (Herpestidae) are a family of about 30 species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also frequently referred to as "mongooses". Genetic evidence indicates that they are more closely related to other Madagascar carnivorans in the family Eupleridae, which is the closest living sister group to mongooses.

Name

The word mongoose is derived from the Marathi name mangus (pronounced as "mongoose"), perhaps ultimately from Dravidian (cf. Telugu mungeesa, Kannada mungisi). The form of the English name (since 1698) was altered to its -goose ending by folk-etymology. It has no etymological connection with the word goose. The plural form is mongooses, or, rarely, mongeese. It has also been spelled mungoose.

Description

Mongooses live in southern Asia, Africa, and southern Europe, as well as some Caribbeanmarker and Hawaiian islands, where they are introduced species. There are more than thirty species, ranging from one to four feet in length. Some species of mongoose lead predominantly solitary lives, seeking out food only for themselves, while others travel in groups, sharing food among the members of the group. Mongooses mostly feed on insects, crabs, earthworms, lizards, snakes, chickens, and rodents. However, they also eat egg and carrion. Some species, such as the Indian Mongoose, are popularly used to fight and kill venomous snakes, including cobras. They are capable of doing this because of their agility and cunning, and their thick coat, but typically avoid the cobra and have no particular affinity for consuming its meat. Mongoose range in size from the squirrel-sized Common Dwarf Mongoose, at , to the cat-sized White-tailed Mongoose, at .

Some species of mongoose are quite intelligent and can be taught simple tricks, which has led to a number of them being domesticated, often kept as pets to control vermin. However, they can be more destructive than desired: when imported into the West Indiesmarker to kill rats and snakes, they destroyed most of the small, ground-based fauna. For this reason, it is illegal to import most species of mongoose into the United Statesmarker, Australia, and other countries. Mongooses were introduced to Hawaiimarker in 1883, and have had a significant effect on native species.

The mongoose emits a high pitched noise, commonly known as giggling, when it mates. The giggling is also a form of courtship when this animal is choosing a mate.

Anatomy

Mongooses have long faces and bodies, small rounded ears, short legs, and long tapering tails. Most are brindled or grizzled; few have strongly marked coats. They have non-retractile claws that are used primarily for digging. Mongooses, much like goats, have narrow, ovular pupils. Most species have a large anal scent gland, used for scent marking of territories, and signaling reproductive status. The dental formula of mongooses is similar to that of viverrids:

Mongooses also have receptors for acetylcholine that, like the receptors in snakes, are shaped so that it is impossible for snake neurotoxin venom to attach to them. Research is being done to determine if similar mechanisms protect the mongoose from hemotoxic snake venoms.

Phylogeny

The helogale pervula (common dwarf mongoose) has the phylogenic background that relates them closely to the family Hyaenidae (hyenas), Viverridae (civets) and Felidae (lions). The species that come from their common ancestor also relates them more closely to canines than it does to the family Mustilidae, which is the family containing weasels, badgers and otters. Genetic evidence indicates that the family Eupleridae, is the closest living sister group to mongooses. Eupleridae contains the species Fossa (most famous for their role in the movie Madagascar).

Analogous structures

The mongoose has a similar appearance to the weasel, despite not being closely related. This could be explained by the lifestyles they both have. Their long sleek bodies and short fur can come down to living in similar climates and burrowing underground. They also have short legs and tails that are like a weasel's. However this is not due to having evolved along similar lines of phylogeny. It can be explained as survival adaptations to their surroundings.

Ecology

Behavioral ecology

In contrast to the arboreal, nocturnal viverrids, mongooses are more commonly terrestrial and many are active during the day. Most are solitary like the Egyptian Mongoose but a few, for example the Meerkat, have well-developed social systems. The Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) is sometimes held as an example of a solitary mongoose, though it has been observed to work in groups also.

The Meerkat or Suricate (Suricata suricatta), a smaller species of mongoose, lives in troops of 20 to 30 consisting of an alpha male and female, usually together with their siblings and offspring, in open country in Southern Africa (Angolamarker, Namibiamarker, Botswanamarker, South Africa). The Meerkat is a small, diurnal mammal foraging for invertebrates in open country. Its behaviour and small size (it weighs less than one kilogram) makes it very vulnerable to larger carnivores and birds of prey. However, the Meerkat has been known to eat small birds that migrate through Southern Africa. To protect the foraging troops from predators, one Meerkat serves as a sentinel — climbing to an exposed vantage point and scanning the surroundings for danger. If the sentinel detects a predator it gives a loud alarm call to warn the troop and indicate if the threat comes from the air or the ground. If from the air, the meerkats rush as fast as they can to the nearest hole. If from the ground, the troop flees but not quite so fast as meerkats are more able to evade terrestrial predators than airborne raptors.

Relationship with humans

Mongooses are a common spectacle for roadside shows in Indiamarker and Pakistanmarker. Snake charmers typically keep mongooses for mock fights with snakes. In Okinawamarker, there is a tourist attraction where a mongoose and a type of local venomous snake, the habu (one of various Trimeresurus species) are placed in a closed perimeter and allowed to fight, while spectators watch. However, due to pressure from animal rights activists, the spectacle is less common today.

In ancient Egypt according to the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (1.35 & 1.87), native mongooses (Herpestes ichneumon) were venerated for their ability to handle venomous snakes and for their occasional diet of crocodile eggs.

The Rudyard Kipling fictional story Rikki-Tikki-Tavi features a pet mongoose that saves its human family from two deadly cobras. The story was later made into several films.

In research into creating artificial skin, several Mongooses were given grafts of a Polytetrafluoroethylene based polymer in an attempt to create a semi-permeable skin-like membrane which could be used to treat burn victims.

Taxonomy and classification

Genetic evidence from several nuclear and mitochondrial genes provides strong evidence against the placement of the Malagasy Galidiinae in the mongoose family; instead, these species are more closely related to other Madagascar carnivorans, including the fossa and Malagasy civet. As a result, this subfamily was moved out of the Herpestidae family and re-located to the Eupleridae.

Like other feliformian carnivorans, mongooses descended from the viverravines, which were civet- or genet-like mammals. Older classifications sometimes placed mongooses in the Viverridae family, but both morphological and molecular evidence speaks against the monophyly of this group. Mongooses have characteristic morphological and behavioural features that distinguish them from viverrids and other feliformian families, though they do have the same basic dental formula as the viverrids. Less diverse than the viverrids, the mongoose family includes 11 genera and 30 species distributed mainly in Africa but also in southern Eurasia.

Classification



Gallery

Mongoose, or Mangouste as depicted in the 1851 Illustrated London Reading Book
Long-nosed Cusimanse, Crossarchus obscurus
Banded Mongoose, Mungos mungo


Bibliography

  • Anne Rasa: Mongoose Watch: A Family Observed. Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday & Co., 1986
  • H.E. Hinton and A.M.S. Dunn: Mongooses: Their Natural History and Behaviour. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.


References

  1. Lydekker, R. 1894. A hand-book to the Carnivora. Part 1, Cats, civets, and mungooses. London: Allen.
  2. [1]
  3. Hedges, Stephen. "Science: Mongoose's secret is to copy its prey"; New Scientist; 11 January 1997. Retrieved 16 November 2007.
  4. Yoder et al., 2003, Nature 421:434-437; Flynn et al., 2005, Syst. Biol. 54:317-337



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