Spotted Linsang
(Prionodon pardicolor)
Taxonomy Range
Appearance Diet
Reproductivity Behavior
Status References
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Viverrinae
Genus: Prionodon
Subgenus: Pardictis
Species:
pardicolor
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The Range of the Spotted Linsang is
covered with thick tropical forest throughout Nepal, Myanmar, Southern
China, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Borneo.
It is no
longer found in Sikkim and Thailand.
It has also
been recorded from fringe habitats around human settlements within forests.
The Spotted Linsang is the smallest of
all the currently living civets, weighing less than a 35.3 ounces.
They have a
pointed muzzle, elongated body, short limbs and retractile claws.
The tail is
nearly as long as the head and body.
The general
coat color is brownish on the belly and neck, which gradually merge, to almost
an orange buff. There are distinct dark patches on
the body. Dorsally there are two rows of
smaller spots on the spine extending from the eye line to the shoulders ending
at the rear end to
form a single stripe. There are three or
four lengthwise rows of small spots on the sides, extending from the back and
lower down to the
flanks, shoulders and thighs. The spots
decrease in size from the back to the belly. The front legs are spotted to the
paws and the hind
legs up to the thigh. The tail has eight
to ten complete dark rings.
The complete
covering of the legs by hair helps to distinguish linsangs from other members of
the family Viverridae. In addition, these animals lack
a perineal gland (near
the genitals which produces a pungent oil called civet),
and the second upper molars are missing.
In both sexes the absence of
sex glands makes it hard to identify them accordingly.
Head and body
length varies between 12-17.7 inches, tail length 12-15.8 inches and weight
ranges between 1.3-1.7 lb.
The diet consists of squirrels, other
rodents, small birds, lizards, insects, eggs and frogs. It is believed
that their diet is basically anything that
they can catch and eat including carrion and
some fruit.
Females come into Estrous twice a
year, once in February and again in August.
The litter size is between two to three
kits.
Although no details are available on the
reproductive cycle of the Spotted Linsang,
the estrus cycle for Banded Linsangs (Pardictis
linsang), a
related species, is 11 days. Litters of two are
common. Newborn weight for
P. linsang
is 40 g. The young are hidden in tree or root hollows lined
with dried vegetation, where they may stay
until weaning. It is unknown if their mother teaches the young to hunt.
The Spotted Linsang are solitary,
arboreal and nocturnal. They tend to spend large portion of time in hollow
trees for shelter. Little else is
known about this species on behavior.
CITES: Appendix I
IUCN: Least
Concern
The population of this Linsang is
presently is under 200, making it one of the rarest out of
the Viverridae
family.
As is the case
for may small, rainforest animals, the major threat to
the Spotted Linsang is
loss of habitat
through clear-cut logging and conversion of forests to agriculture.
However, because of its beautiful fur, hunting also threatens its survival.
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References
Lioncrusher.com
Wild
Viverrids of India Conservation
Wikipedia.org
Animaldiversity.org
For more information please contact the: Small Carnivore Tag Education Liaison
This website is brought to you by PJC
Student
Justin Bellizzi
of the 2007 class
