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A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family has two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to southern Europe, Africa and Asia, whereas the Mungotinae comprises 11 species native to Africa. The Herpestidae originated about Template:Mya in the Early Miocene and genetically diverged into two main lineages between 19.1 and Template:Mya. There is a large introduced population on the islands of Hawaii. Mongoose diets are varied but consist of mainly insects, hatchlings, reptiles and birds.
EtymologyEdit
The name is derived from names used in India for Herpestes species:<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} or {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in classical Hindi;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Marathi;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Telugu;<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}, {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} and {{#invoke:Lang|lang}} in Kannada.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The form of the English name (since 1698) was altered to its "-goose" ending by folk etymology.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was spelled "mungoose" in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The plural form is "mongooses".<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
CharacteristicsEdit
Mongooses have long faces and bodies, small, rounded ears, short legs, and long, tapering tails. Most are brindled or grizzly; a few have strongly marked coats which bear a striking resemblance to mustelids. Their markings consist of dark legs, stripes, and pale ringed tails. They have narrow, ovular pupils and nonretractile claws. Most species have a large anal scent gland, used for territorial marking and signaling reproductive status,<ref name=EoM>Template:Cite book</ref> and a short and smooth penis with a baculum and an elongated urethral opening on its underside.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The dental formula of mongooses is Template:DentalFormula. They range from Template:Cvt in head-to-body length, excluding the tail. In weight, they range from Template:Cvt to Template:Cvt.<ref name=EoM/>
Mongooses are one of at least four known mammalian taxa with mutations in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor that protect against snake venom.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Their modified receptors prevent the snake venom α-neurotoxin from binding. These represent four separate, independent mutations. In the mongoose, this change is effected, uniquely, by glycosylation.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
TaxonomyEdit
Herpestina was a scientific name proposed by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1845 who considered the mongooses a subfamily of the Viverridae.<ref name=Bonaparte1845>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1864, John Edward Gray classified the mongooses into three subfamilies: Galidiinae, Herpestinae and Mungotinae.<ref name=Gray1865>Template:Cite journal</ref> This grouping was supported by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1919, who referred to the family as "Mungotidae".<ref name="Pocock1919">Template:Cite journal</ref>
Genetic research based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA analyses revealed that the Galidiinae are more closely related to Madagascar carnivores, including the fossa and Malagasy civet.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Flynn2005">Template:Cite journal</ref> Galidiinae is considered a subfamily of Eupleridae.<ref>Template:MSW3</ref>
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Phylogenetic relationshipsEdit
Phylogenetic research of 18 mongoose species revealed that the solitary and social mongooses form different clades.<ref name="Veron2004">Template:Cite journal</ref> The phylogenetic relationships of Herpestidae are shown in the following cladogram:<ref name="Barycka2005">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Patou2009">Template:Cite journal</ref> Template:Clade
Extinct speciesEdit
Leptoplesictis Template:Small<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- †L. atavus Beaumont, 1973
- †L. aurelianensis Schlosser, 1888
- †L. filholi Gaillard, 1899
- †L. mbitensis Schmidt-Kittler, 1987
- †L. namibiensis Morales et al., 2008
- †L. peignei, Grohé et al., 2020
- †L. rangwai Schmidt-Kittler, 1987
- †L. senutae Morales et al., 2008
Behaviour and ecologyEdit
Some mongoose species are solitary, while others live in pairs or large groups.<ref name=":12">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Some species can learn simple tricks, and are kept as pets to control vermin.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Cultural significanceEdit
In ancient Mesopotamia, mongooses were sacred to the deity Ninkilim, who was conflated with Ningirama, a deity of magic who was invoked for protection against serpents. According to a Babylonian popular saying, when a mouse fled from a mongoose into a serpent's hole, it announced, "I bring you greetings from the snake-charmer!" A creature resembling a mongoose also appears in Old Babylonian glyptic art, but its significance is not known.<ref name="BlackGreen1992">Template:Cite book</ref>
All mongoose species, except for Suricata suricatta, are classed as a "prohibited new organism" under New Zealand's Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996, preventing them from being imported into the country.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:More citations needed A well-known fictional mongoose is Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, who appears in a short story of the same title in The Jungle Book (1894) by Rudyard Kipling. In this tale set in India, a young pet mongoose saves his human family from a krait and from Nag and Nagaina, two cobras. The story was later made into several films and a song by Donovan, among other references. A mongoose is also featured in Bram Stoker's novel The Lair of the White Worm. The main character, Adam Salton, purchases one to independently hunt snakes. Another mongoose features in the denouement of the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Crooked Man", by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Indian Tamil devotional film Padai Veetu Amman shows Tamil actor Vinu Chakravarthy changing himself into a mongoose by using his evil tantric mantra, to fight the goddess Amman. However, the mongoose finally dies at the hands of the goddess.
Mongoose species are prohibited to be kept as pets in the United States.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>