Editing Mongoose (section)

==Characteristics==
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>{{cite book |editor=Macdonald, D. |year=2009 |title=The Encyclopedia of Mammals |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |page=660 |isbn=978-0-19-956799-7}}</ref> and a short and smooth [[penis]] with a [[baculum]] and an elongated [[Urinary meatus|urethral opening]] on its underside.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Estes |first=R. |title=The Behavior Guide to African Mammals: Including Hoofed Mammals, Carnivores, Primates |date=1991 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-08085-0 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Behavior_Guide_to_African_Mammals/g977LsZHpcsC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA279&printsec=frontcover}}</ref> The [[dental formula]] of mongooses is {{DentalFormula |upper=3.1.3–4.1–2 |lower=3.1.3–4.1–2}}.
They range from {{cvt|24|to|58|cm}} in head-to-body length, excluding the tail. In weight, they range from {{cvt|320|g}} to {{cvt|5|kg}}.<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#Immunity|snake venom]].<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Barchan, D. |author2=Kachalsky, S., Neumann, D., Vogel, Z., Ovadia, M., Kochva, E. and Fuchs, S. |title=How the mongoose can fight the snake: the binding site of the mongoose acetylcholine receptor |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=89 |issue=16 |pages=7717–7721 |date=1992 |url=https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/89/16/7717.full.pdf |doi=10.1073/pnas.89.16.7717 |pmid=1380164 |pmc=49782|bibcode=1992PNAS...89.7717B |doi-access=free}}</ref> Their modified receptors prevent the [[snake venom]] [[Snake venom#Neurotoxins|α-neurotoxin]] from binding. These represent four separate, independent mutations. In the mongoose, this change is effected, uniquely, by [[Glycosylation#Purpose|glycosylation]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Drabeck |first1=D. H. |last2=Dean |first2=A. M. |last3=Jansa |first3=S. A. |title=Why the honey badger don't care: Convergent evolution of venom-targeted nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in mammals that survive venomous snake bites |journal=Toxicon |date= 2015 |volume=99 |pages=68–72 |doi=10.1016/j.toxicon.2015.03.007 |pmid=25796346|bibcode=2015Txcn...99...68D}}</ref>