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Herpestidae

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Also known as mongoose family, mongoose, mongooses, herpestids, herpestid

A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family has two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southern Europe, Africa and Asia, whereas the Mungotinae comprises 11 species native to Africa. The Herpestidae originated about in the Early Miocene and genetically diverged into two main lineages between 19.1 and . There is a large introduced population on the islands of Hawaii. Mongoose diets are varied but consist of mainly insects, hatchlings, reptiles and birds.

OverviewAI-generated

Herpestidae is a family within the order Carnivora, class Mammalia, phylum Chordata, and kingdom Animalia. It belongs to the parent taxa Feliformia and Herpestoidea. The group is commonly referred to as mongooses, or by the names ihneumoni and mangustowate.

Records indicate occurrences in Ethiopia, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa, with institutions including ISM, YPM, AMNH, CMNH, and CMN holding related materials. The family has been referenced by 1,065 other encyclopedia articles.

Synthesized by Vinony from 29 facts across 7 sources: Wikidata, GBIF, PubMed, Gbif Occ, Encyclopedia of Life, iDigBio, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Herpestidae

FAMILY

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderCarnivora
FamilyHerpestidae

Observations recorded65,260

獴科（学名 Herpestidae），哺乳綱食肉目的一科，外形较像猫，有貓鼬的別稱。最新的分类方法只包括獴亚科一个亚科。

via GBIF

Museum specimens

Specimen records: 13
Family: Herpestidae
Collections: ISM, YPM, AMNH, CMNH, CMN, UNSM
Recorded in: Ethiopia, Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa

Research

571 papers

Mongoose rabies.ReviewReviews of infectious diseases · 1988Everard CO, Everard JDDOI: 10.1093/clinids/10.supplement_4.s610
Molecular phylogeny of the Herpestidae (Mammalia, Carnivora) with a special emphasis on the Asian Herpestes.Molecular phylogenetics and evolution · 2009Patou ML, McLenachan PA, Morley CG et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.05.038
Meerkats.Current biology : CB · 2007Ross-Gillespie A, Griffin ASDOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.03.045
Resilient meerkats.Nature · 2019Osório JDOI: 10.1038/d41586-019-00530-1
Rabies post-exposure prophylaxis.The New England journal of medicine · 1987Baer GM, Fishbein DBDOI: 10.1056/NEJM198705143162009
First mitochondrial genome of the Egyptian mongoose Herpestes ichneumon (Carnivora, Herpestidae).Mitochondrial DNA. Part B, Resources · 2021Boukhdoud L, Parker LD, McInerney NR et al.DOI: 10.1080/23802359.2021.1875927
The earliest modern mongoose (Carnivora, Herpestidae) from Africa (late Miocene of Chad).Die Naturwissenschaften · 2005Peigné S, de Bonis L, Likius A et al.DOI: 10.1007/s00114-005-0626-0
Mycobacterium bovis in Egyptian mongoose, Spain.Zoonoses and public health · 2023Ferreras-Colino E, Descalzo E, Romero B et al.DOI: 10.1111/zph.13033

~8 min read

Encyclopedic overview

11 sections

Contents

Etymology
Characteristics
Taxonomy
Phylogenetic relationships
Extinct species
Behaviour and ecology
Cultural significance
See also
References
Further reading
External links

A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family has two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southern Europe, Africa and Asia, whereas the Mungotinae comprises 11 species native to Africa. The Herpestidae originated about in the Early Miocene and genetically diverged into two main lineages between 19.1 and . There is a large introduced population on the islands of Hawaii. Mongoose diets are varied but consist of mainly insects, hatchlings, reptiles and birds.

==Etymology== The name is derived from names used in India for Herpestes species: or in classical Hindi; in Marathi; in Telugu; , and in Kannada.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Herpestidae” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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