African civet

Also known as Civettictis civetta, civet

largest representative of the African Viverridae

OverviewAI-generated

The African civet, scientifically named *Civettictis civetta*, is a species within the parent taxon *Civettictis*. It is also referred to by the common names Civette africaine and Civette d'Afrique. The species is the source of civet.

According to the 2019 IUCN Red List assessment, the African civet holds a conservation status of Least Concern. Biological records indicate a gestation period of 70.5 and a litter size of 2.5. The longest observed lifespan for this taxon is 28.

Synthesized by Vinony from 16 facts across 3 sources: Wikidata, IUCN Red List, Vinony graph. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.

Species

Least Concern

非洲靈貓（学名：Civettictis civetta）是非洲熱帶的麝貓。牠們不像其他靈貓科般像貓，反而像短小的狗。牠們的毛粗糙，有黑點及白間，面部呈白色，眼睛有黑斑及淡色的吻。牠們的肛腺，可以分泌靈貓酮來劃定地盤，也可以用來製作香水。非洲靈貓分佈在撒哈拉以南非洲及博茨瓦納、納米比亞及南非的大部份地區。牠們棲息在森林，包括密茂的雨林或半林地。雖然牠們經常墮切捕捉胡狼的陷阱或死於交通意外，但牠們並非近危。非洲靈貓是雜食性的，會吃細小的脊椎動物、無脊椎動物、蛋、腐屍及植物。牠們可以吃有毒的無脊椎動物（如馬陸）及蛇，與及可以處理較大的獵物，如獴及野兔。牠們多數獨自覓食。

via IUCN

~13 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The African civet (Civettictis civetta) is a large viverrid native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is considered common and widely distributed in woodlands and secondary forests. It has been listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008. In some countries, it is threatened by hunting, and wild-caught individuals are kept for producing civetone for the perfume industry.

The African civet is primarily nocturnal and spends the day sleeping in dense vegetation, but wakes up at sunset. It is a solitary mammal with a unique coloration: the black and white blotches covering its coarse pelage and rings on the tail are an effective cryptic pattern. The black bands surrounding its eyes closely resemble those of the raccoon. Other distinguishing features are its disproportionately large hindquarters and its erectile dorsal crest. It is an omnivorous generalist, preying on small vertebrates, invertebrates, eggs, carrion, and vegetable matter. It is one of the few carnivores capable of eating toxic invertebrates such as termites and millipedes. It detects prey primarily by smell and sound rather than by sight. It is the only living member of the genus Civettictis.

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