• Nyumbani
  • Bdeogale crassicauda Peters, 1852

Bdeogale crassicauda Peters, 1852

Order: Carnivora > Family: Herpestidae > Genus: Bdeogale > Species: Bdeogale crassicauda Peters, 1852

Common Name: Bushy-tailed Mongoose [English]

Type Description

Monatsb. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin, 1852:81.

Type Locality

'Africa orient., Tette, Boror, 17-18° Lat. Austr'. (pg. 82). Restricted by Moreau et al. (1945:410) to 'Tette' [Mozambique].

Measurements

Head and body: 400-500 mm
Tail length: 200-300 mm
Hindfoot length: 74-90 mm
Weight: 1.5-1.6 kg

Description

The bushy-tailed mongoose is recognizable by its bushy tail and the presence of 4 digits on all 4 feet.

Distribution

Inhabiting woodlands, moist savannas, dense vegetation around rocky outcrops and coastal thickets, dry forests and well-vegetated valleys of the Miombo woodlands, Bdeogale crassicauda is widely distributed in the southeastern section of Africa from Tanzania to Malawi, northern Zambia and Mozambique and also on Zanzibar Island. (Kingdon, 1989, 1997)

Key References

1. Kingdon, J. 1989. East African mammals: An atlas of evolution in Africa. (Carnivores). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 3A:243-253. 2. Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon field guide to African mammals, AP Natural World Academic Press, Harcourt Brace & Company, San Diego, p. 255-256.
3. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Sixth ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1:766-768, 779-780.
4. Swynnerton, G. H., and R. W. Hayman. 1951. A checklist of the land mammals of the Tanganyika Territory and the Zanzibar Protectorate. Journal of the East African Natural History Society, 20(6):274-392.