Small-spotted Genet
Genetta genetta
-21.9978, 35.3169
Field Notes
Description:
This amazing animal was climbing around in a tree above us as we were having a late dinner outside our hotel. It was very calm and as gracile as a cat, but the Genetta is more akin to the Moongoose than the cat! He stayed around for about ten minutes, and did not seem to be disturbed about the attention he got from us. A fantastic climber, mastereing the mango tree on the picture as well as a coconut palm right next to it.
The picture was taken by a friend and I was holding a torch (yep, someone has to do the hard work ;) )
Habitat:
Urban environment close to the beach of Indian Ocean. I have not found any recordings on previous spottings in Mozambique, and this makes the spotting even more spectacular!
Notes:
It can be hard at first sight to separate the Large-Spotted Genet from the Small-Spotted Genet. But one way is to look at the tip of the tail. On the Small-Spotted Genet the tail is white tipped, and on the Large-Spotted Genet it is black tipped.
The Small-Spotted Genet has a diet which consists mainly of small mammals and insects. Bats, birds, reptiles, amphibians, millipedes, centipedes and scorpions. Genets kill with a bite to the neck, like cats. But according to Wikipedia: Genets are feliforms, and are related to cats, but more closely related to mongooses.
The family viverrids (whom the Genetta belongs to) are commonly regarded as the closest living mammals to the extinct common ancestor of the carnivores. Although the genets are very catlike, they also display some primitive features of this ancestor, making them an interesting study for people interested in carnivore evolution. It is suggested that others interested in this topic also research the civets, palm civets and linsangs for more information on viverrids.
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