#otter civet

[all-mammal-creechur]

Otter Civet Cynogale bennettii

A semiaquatic viverrid native to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. It is a nocturnal species that obtains most of its food from the water, feeding on fish, crabs and freshwater mollusks. The otter civet is threatened by habitat destruction – specifically, the destruction of peat swamp forests to make way for oil palm plantations.

image by Royle Safaris

[critter-creature-or-beast]

This is a...

critter

creature

beast

Voting ended onApr 16

Image 1 by Royle Safaris, photographer Mark Langston, CC-BY-NC

Image 2 by Stavenn - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0

[corvusherpestidae]

What’s your favorite animal that most people haven’t heard of what are your favorite things about that animal

There are many animals that could fit that description, but two I will focus on for now are the marsh mongoose (Atilax paludinosus) of Africa and the otter civet (Cynogale bennettii) of Southeast Asia.  These two are examples of convergent evolution. They evolved a similar lifestyle to the raccoon, being omnivorous, aquatic creatures that forage by wading in the shallows with their paws for small prey. (This is what raccoons that live outside of cities do).

Another example is the rakali (Hydromys chrysogaster), a giant aquatic carnivorous rat native to Australia. It convergently evolved a lifestyle similar to otters, swimming after fish and crustaceans. This is even more distinct because it’s an example of a mostly omnivorous/herbivorous lineage (rats) becoming carnivorous.

Thank you for asking

[striped-civet]

Otter civet (Cynogale bennettii)

📸 Roland Seitre | naturepl.com

[fishsplash]

Silly little mammal called an otter civet, study moment

[leastniceperson]

oughgghhhgh snout

[the-faunal-frontier]

Cynogale bennettii - Otter Civet

[astronomy-to-zoology]

Otter Civet (Cynogale bennettii)

...a species of semi-aquatic civet that occurs in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. Like other civets C. bennetti is nocturnal and will do all of its foraging at night. Unlike other civets C. bennetti's diet consists mostly of fish, crabs, molluscs and other freshwater invertebrates. It has also been known to climb to feed on fruits and occasionally birds. However, this species is fairly rare and much of its biology remains a mystery

Currently Cynogale bennettii is listed as endangered as it faces threats from the loss of its habitats to make oil palm plantations.

Classification

Animalia-Chordata-Mammalia-Carnivora-Feliformia-Viverridae-Hemigalinae-Cynogale-C. bennetti

Images: Mariomassone and Mohamed & Wilting, SWD, SFD