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- Rhynchogale melleri Gray, 1865
Rhynchogale melleri Gray, 1865
Order: Carnivora > Family: Herpestidae > Genus: Rhynchogale > Species: Rhynchogale melleri Gray, 1865
Common Name: Meller's Mongoose [English]
Type Description
Gray, J. E. 1864 [1865]. A revision of the genera and species of viverrine animals (Viverridae) founded on the collection in the British Museum. Proceedings og the Zoological Society of London, 1864:502-579.
Type Locality
'from a ravine on the outskirts of the Otto Estate, near Mbweni, about 2½ miles [4 km] west of Kilosa, Tanganyika Territory'.
Measurements
Head and body: 440-480 mm
Tail length: 280-400 mm
Hindfoot length: 95-101 mm
Weight: 1.7-3 kg
Tail length: 280-400 mm
Hindfoot length: 95-101 mm
Weight: 1.7-3 kg
Description
This rare mongoose can be distinguished by certain sections of the fur along the sides of the throat laying against the direction of the rest of the fur.
Distribution
Rarely seen and restricted to the woodland belt in southeastern Africa from Tanzania in the north down to southern Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, Rhynchogale melleri is found in moist and heavily grassed or wooded areas in well-watered and shallow valleys. (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:238-241. 2. Kingdon, J. 1997. The Kingdon field guide to African mammals, AP Natural World Academic Press, Harcourt Brace & Company, San Diego, p. 253-254.
3. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Sixth ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1:766-768, 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.
3. Nowak, R. M. 1999. Walker's Mammals of the World. Sixth ed. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1:766-768, 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.