Introduction
The niche of the small semi-arboreal, solitary, and nocturnal insectivore-carnivore is occupied by the genus Genetta over most of Africa and southwest Europe. The dozen or so species comprising the genus are structurally coherent, exploit nearly all natural and cultivated habitats, and in many areas are a numerically dominant small carnivore. This success may be considered exceptional, for Genetta like Didelphis and Tupaiia is believed to be a relatively unmodified derivative of an ancestral form (GREGORY and HELLMAU 1939) COLBERT 1955). However, the view that the viverrines are the most structurally conservative viverrids is founded on the premise that tribosphenic molars, attenuated body form, and relatively unrestricted rotatory ability of manus and pes constitute features of the ancestral morphotype (GREGORY and HELLMM 1939, COLBERT 1955, ROMER 19^5)•
Since both fossil viverrines, such as the Oligocene and Miocene genera Paleoprionodon and Stenoplesictis and extant civets such as Prionodon, Viverricula, Poiana, and Genetta more or less share these features, the subfamily Viverrinae is considered to be the most central and basal viverrid group (WINGE 19^1, THENIUS and HOFER i960, GREGORY and HELLMAN 1939, COLBERT 1955, ROMER I9I+5). Whether, however, the lineage of the more terrestrial civets (Viverricula, Viverra, Civettictis) or the semi-arboreal civets (Poiana, Genetta, Prionodon) represents the least altered derivative of the common ancestor is equivocal, for the fossil record is inadequate. What little is known about Poiana richardsoni, however, suggests that a semi-arboreal habitus may more closely approximate the ancestral viverrine condition.
Wemmer, C (2022). Comparative Ethology of the Large-Spotted Genet, Genetta Tigrina, And Related Viverrid Genera. Afribary. Retrieved from https://afribary.com/works/comparative-ethology-of-the-large-spotted-genet-genetta-tigrina-and-related-viverrid-genera
Wemmer, Christen "Comparative Ethology of the Large-Spotted Genet, Genetta Tigrina, And Related Viverrid Genera" Afribary. Afribary, 16 Jun. 2022, https://afribary.com/works/comparative-ethology-of-the-large-spotted-genet-genetta-tigrina-and-related-viverrid-genera. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Wemmer, Christen . "Comparative Ethology of the Large-Spotted Genet, Genetta Tigrina, And Related Viverrid Genera". Afribary, Afribary, 16 Jun. 2022. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. < https://afribary.com/works/comparative-ethology-of-the-large-spotted-genet-genetta-tigrina-and-related-viverrid-genera >.
Wemmer, Christen . "Comparative Ethology of the Large-Spotted Genet, Genetta Tigrina, And Related Viverrid Genera" Afribary (2022). Accessed November 21, 2024. https://afribary.com/works/comparative-ethology-of-the-large-spotted-genet-genetta-tigrina-and-related-viverrid-genera