The African palm civet is grey to dark brown with dark spots on the back. It has short legs, small ears, a lean body, and a long, ringed tail. It has two sets of scent glands on the lower abdomen and between the third and fourth toes on each foot, which secrete a strong-smelling substance used to mark territory and in mating. Adult females reach a body length of 37–61 cm (15–24 in) with a 34–70 cm (13–28 in) long tail and weigh 1.2–2.7 kg (2.6–6.0 lb). Adult males reach 39.8–62.5 cm (15.7–24.6 in) in body length with a 43–76.2 cm (16.9–30.0 in) long tail and weigh 1.3–3 kg (2.9–6.6 lb).[3]
Males have home ranges of 34–153 ha (0.13–0.59 sq mi) and females of 29–70 ha (0.11–0.27 sq mi). The home range of a dominant male includes home ranges of several females.[13]
Reproduction
In Gabon, females were recorded to give birth in the long wet season and at the onset of the dry season between September and January.[13] The female usually gives birth after a gestation period of 2–3 months. A litter consists of up to four young that are suckled for around three months. While she has suckling young, the female's mammary glands produce an orange-yellow liquid, which discolours her abdomen and the young civets' fur. This probably discourages males from mating with nursing females.[citation needed]Its generation length is 7.8 years.[14]
The phylogenetic relationships of African palm civet is shown in the following cladogram:[17]
Threats
The African palm civet is threatened by habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat.[1]In 2006, an estimated more than 4,300 African palm civets are hunted yearly in the Nigerian part and around 3,300 in the Cameroon part of the Cross–Sanaga–Bioko coastal forests.[18]
In Guinea, dead African palm civets were recorded in spring 1997 on bushmeat market in villages located in the vicinity of the National Park of Upper Niger.[19] Dried heads of African palm civets were found in 2007 at the Bohicon and Dantokpa Markets in southern Benin, suggesting that they are used as fetish in animal rituals.[20]The attitude of rural people in Ghana towards African palm civets is hostile; they consider them a menace to their food resources and safety of children.[21] In Gabon, it is among the most frequently found small carnivores for sale in bushmeat markets.[22] Upper Guinean forests in Liberia are considered a biodiversity hotspot. They have already been fragmented into two blocks. Large tracts are threatened by commercial logging and mining activities, and are converted for agricultural use including large-scale oil palmplantations in concessions obtained by a foreign company.[11]
References
^ a b c dGaubert, P.; Bahaa-el-din, L.; Ray, J. & Do Linh San, E. (2015). "Nandinia binotata". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2015: e.T41589A45204645. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T41589A45204645.en. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
^Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). "Order Carnivora". In Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 532–628. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
^Van Rompaey, H.; Ray, J.C. (2013). "Nandinia binotata Two-spotted Palm Civet (African Palm Civet, Tree Civet)". In Kingdon, J.; Hoffmann, M. (eds.). The Mammals of Africa. V. Carnivores, Pangolins, Equids and Rhinoceroses. London: Bloomsbury. pp. 140–144.
^ a bPocock, R. I. (1929). "Carnivora". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Vol. IV (14th ed.). pp. 896–900.
^Eisentraut, M. (1973). Die Wirbeltierfauna von Fernando Po und Westkamerun. Bonn: Bonner Zoologische Monographien 3.
^Hoffmann, M.; Cronin, D.T.; Hearn, G.; Butynski, T. M.; Do Linh San, E. (2015). "A review of evidence for the presence of Two-spotted Palm Civet Nandinia binotata and four other small carnivores on Bioko, Equatorial Guinea". Small Carnivore Conservation (52 & 53): 13–23.
^Ziegler, S.; Nikolaus, G.; Hutterer, R. (2002). "High mammalian diversity in the newly established National Park of Upper Niger, Republic of Guinea". Oryx. 36 (1): 73–80. doi:10.1017/s003060530200011x.
^McGrew, W.C.; Baldwin, P.J.; Marchant, L.F.; Pruetz, J.D.; Tutin, C.E. (2014). "Chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes verus) and their mammalian sympatriates: Mt. Assirik, Niokolo-Koba National Park, Senegal". Primates. 55 (4): 525–532. doi:10.1007/s10329-014-0434-2. PMID 24990446. S2CID 16046066.
^Nakashima, Y. (2015). "Inventorying medium-and large-sized mammals in the African lowland rainforest using camera trapping". Tropics. 23 (4): 151–164. doi:10.3759/tropics.23.151.
^Hedwig, D.; Kienast, I.; Bonnet, M.; Curran, B. K.; Courage, A.; Boesch, C.; Kühl, H. S.; King, T. (2018). "A camera trap assessment of the forest mammal community within the transitional savannah-forest mosaic of the Batéké Plateau National Park, Gabon". African Journal of Ecology. 56 (4): 777–790. Bibcode:2018AfJEc..56..777H. doi:10.1111/aje.12497.
^ a bBene, J. C. K.; Bitty, E. A.; Bohoussou, K. H.; Abedilartey, M.; Gamys, J.; Soribah, P. A. (2013). "Current conservation status of large mammals in Sime Darby Oil Palm Concession in Liberia". Global Journal of Biology, Agriculture & Health Sciences. 2 (2): 93–102.
^Perkin, A. (2004). "A new range record for the African palm civet Nandinia binotata (Carnivora, Viverridae) from Unguja Island, Zanzibar". African Journal of Ecology. 42 (3): 232–234. Bibcode:2004AfJEc..42..232P. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2028.2004.00499.x.
^ a b cCharles-Dominique, P. (1978). "Écologie et vie sociale de Nandinia binotata (Carnivores, Viverridés): Comparaison avec les prosimiens sympatriques du Gabon". La Terre et la Vie (32): 477–528.
^Pacifici, M.; Santini, L.; Di Marco, M.; Baisero, D.; Francucci, L.; Grottolo Marasini, G.; Visconti, P.; Rondinini, C. (2013). "Generation length for mammals". Nature Conservation (5): 87–94.
^Gray, J. E. (1830). "Fam. Felidae. Gen. Viverra". Spicilegia zoologica; or, original figures and short systematic descriptions of new and unfigured animals. London: Treuttel, Würtz. p. 9.
^Gray, J. E. (1843). "Viverrina. The Nandine". List of the Specimens of Mammalia in the Collection of the British Museum. London: British Museum (Natural History). pp. 47–56.
^ a bEizirik, E.; Murphy, W. J.; Koepfli, K. P.; Johnson, W. E.; Dragoo, J. W.; Wayne, R. K.; O'Brien, S. J. (2010). "Pattern and timing of diversification of the mammalian order Carnivora inferred from multiple nuclear gene sequences". Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 56 (1): 49–63. Bibcode:2010MolPE..56...49E. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2010.01.033. PMC 7034395. PMID 20138220.
^Fa, J. E.; Seymour, S.; Dupain, J. E. F.; Amin, R.; Albrechtsen, L.; Macdonald, D. (2006). "Getting to grips with the magnitude of exploitation: bushmeat in the Cross–Sanaga rivers region, Nigeria and Cameroon". Biological Conservation. 129 (4): 497–510. Bibcode:2006BCons.129..497F. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2005.11.031.
^Ziegler, S.; Nikolaus, G.; Hutterer, R. (2002). "High mammalian diversity in the newly established National Park of Upper Niger, Republic of Guinea". Oryx. 36 (1): 73–80. doi:10.1017/s003060530200011x.
^Djagoun, C. A. M. S.; Gaubert, P. (2009). "Small carnivorans from southern Benin: a preliminary assessment of diversity and hunting pressure". Small Carnivore Conservation (40): 1–10.
^Campbell, M. (2009). "Proximity in a Ghanaian savanna: Human reactions to the African palm civet Nandinia binotata". Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. 30 (2): 220–231. Bibcode:2009SJTG...30..220C. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9493.2009.00369.x.
^Bahaa-el-din, L.; Henschel, P.; Aba’a, R.; Abernethy, K.; Bohm, T.; Bout, N.; Coad, L.; Head, J.; Inoue, E.; Lahm, S.; Lee, M. E.; Maisels, F.; Rabanal, L.; Starkey, M.; Taylor, G.; Vanthomme, A.; Nakashima, Y.; Hunter, L. (2013). "Notes on the distribution and status of small carnivores in Gabon". Small Carnivore Conservation (48): 19–29.
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