Африканская пальмовая цивета: Распространение и особенности

Species of carnivore

The African palm civet (Nandinia binotata), also known as the two spotted palm civet, is a small feliform mammal widely distributed in sub Saharan Africa. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. The African palm civet's ear canal is not divided and cartilaginous at the end.

The African palm civet ranges throughout much of sub Saharan Africa from Guinea to South Sudan, south to Angola, and into eastern Zimbabwe. It has been recorded in deciduous forests, lowland rainforests, gallery and riverine forests, savanna woodlands, and logged forests up to an elevation of However, it was not recorded on the island during subsequent surveys between 1986 and 2015. In Guinea's National Park of Upper Niger, it was recorded during surveys conducted in 1996 to 1997. In Senegal, it was observed in 2000 in Niokolo Koba National Park, which encompasses mainly open habitat dominated by grasses. In Gabon’s Moukalaba Doudou National Park, it was recorded in forested areas during a camera trapping survey in 2012. In Batéké Plateau National Park, it was recorded only west of the Mpassa River during surveys carried out between June 2014 and May 2015. In Liberian Upper Guinean forests, it was sighted in Gbarpolu County and Bong County during surveys in 2013. In Zanzibar, it was recorded in groundwater forest on Unguja Island in 2003.

The African palm civet is a nocturnal, largely arboreal mammal that spends most of the time on large branches, among lianas in the canopy of trees. It eats fruits such as those of the African corkwood tree (Musanga cecropioides), Uapaca, persimmon (Diospyros hoyleana), fig trees (Ficus), papayas (Carica papaya), and bananas (Musa). Males have home ranges of and females of The home range of a dominant male includes home ranges of several females.

In 1830, John Edward Gray first described an African palm civet using the name Viverra binotata based on a zoological specimen obtained from a museum in Leiden. In 1843, Gray proposed the genus Nandinia and subordinated Viverra binotata to this genus. In 1929, Reginald Innes Pocock proposed the family Nandiniidae, with the genus Nandinia as sole member. He argued that it differs from the Aeluroidea by the structure and shape of its ear canal and mastoid part of the temporal bone. It is the most genetically isolated Carnivoran, being the only species within its superfamily as a whole.