Cats

[Testycalibrated]

This was written by google translate:
http://www.mascotarios.org/en/el-fossa/

The fossa is an animal of the family of the Mongoose, with a length of almost 2 meters from snout to the tip of the tail and a weight of up to 12 kg.

Reserved, like a cat, they are expert climbers and well-equipped to pursue the lemurs in the forest, hunting down even the largest of the lemur species.

On the island of Madagascar, The Fossa is the largest carnivore and in fact is the largest predator on the island. As predator eats practically everything, from lemurs to wild pigs and poultry. Unlike its cousin the Mongoose, This species has many features that make it look like a cat, such as retractable claws and sharp teeth. It has a reddish brown layer and its snout is similar to that of a dog.

The pit has a very long tail, that is very useful while hunting jumping between trees. It uses its tail to balance to quickly move between the branches of the trees.

This solitary creature spends most of its time in trees and the rest on the floor. You can see that it is both active at night, during the day, so is neither diurnal nor nocturnal. Females give birth every year and the litter usually consists of two to four litters. The young reach maturity around age three. The pups are born in a hidden Lair underground and usually are always born between December and January. They are born completely helpless, without view. The teeth are shown at two weeks, your eyes begin to open and its thin skin begins to thicken.

It is an intriguing animal, females dominate the mating process, can copulate up to 57 times with up to 10 different males. A single copulation can last more than six hours and a female can mate during a period of 40 hours without hardly rest. That makes the sexual activity of the trench one of the most intense among the mammals.

In Madagascar, the trench is taken by an almost diabolical animal. They circulate all sorts of legends about him warning of its alleged danger to humans, Since it is capable of numbing a person licking him face to then start the intestines, until his alleged fixation by kidnap human babies. In rural areas is accused of killing chickens, ducks and pigs. For this reason, the raids are not uncommon to finish with some specimens, While the species is protected by the Government of Madagascar. Hunting, coupled with the destruction of their habitat, It has greatly reduced its population. It was declared a vulnerable by the IUCN in 2008, and it is estimated that today should be less than 2500 copies released, something catastrophic because what little is known yet about their biology and behavior in their natural environment.

The graves are not deserving of Fame that have in Madagascar. They become accustomed easily to life in captivity, where docile and affective are shown with their owners. In domestic State they live an average of 20 years.

[borealis]

They are like alien cats.

[Monad]

[thatsneakyguy]

10. Fossas have an unusual mating system. A receptive female occupies a site high in a tree, below which males will congregate and compete for mating rights. She may choose to mate with several of her suitors over the next week, and bouts of copulation may last for several hours. This lengthy mating is partly due to the backwards-pointing spines on the male’s penis, which results in a copulatory tie that is difficult to break. Once the first female has left, a new female will take over the mating site. The same trees are frequently used year after year. This mating system, in which a female monopolizes a site and chooses her mates, seems to be unique among carnivores.

I remember watching this on PBS once, it looked painful to me.

Fossas mating - YouTube

Fossas mating - YouTube

[Mike PSS]

civit?

[borealis]

Genet, isn't it?

[Mike PSS]

Genet, isn't it?

I'm 'technically' correct.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Viverridae
Genus: Genetta

Where 'Viverridae' is:

Viverridae is a family of small to medium-sized mammals, the viverrids (/vaɪˈvɛrɪdz/), comprising 15 genera, which are subdivided into 38 species.[1] This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821.[3] Members of this family are commonly called civets or genets.

[borealis]

Yes, Viverridae. I only know this for sure because we had a long running 'identify the animal' game thread at mindromp.

[Mike PSS]

Here's a real trick question.





Dog or Cat???

(i.e. Feliformia or Caniformia suborder)

[F X]

Madagascar (2005)~ Foosa Attack! - YouTube

Madagascar (2005)~ Foosa Attack! - YouTube

[borealis]

I know so I'll let someone else guess the answer to Mike's question.

[borealis]

Monad, I wonder if that image is actually a linsang, maybe a spotted linsang in which case it's more complicated.

[Monad]

civit?

Linsang - sister group to cats and probably what their ancestors looked like

[Monad]

Monad, I wonder if that image is actually a linsang, maybe a spotted linsang in which case it's more complicated.

It's supposedly a banded linsang (according to the link) but I think that is wrong and it's actually a spotted one. In the banded the spots kindof merge in places (although both species have a banded tail).

[Monad]

Here's a real trick question.





Dog or Cat???

(i.e. Feliformia or Caniformia suborder)

Interestingly one of the few errors David Attenborough made (in Life of Mammals) was to call them 'dogs'.

[DaveGodfrey]

They're all hyaenas, so feliformes.

[Old Dan]

They're all hyaenas, so feliformes.

I done thought the same thing, they all look like hyenas to me.

[F X]

They are all trouble