Galidictis is a genus in the subfamily Galidiinae of the family Eupleridae: a group of carnivorans that are endemic to Madagascar.[1]
Galidictis | |
---|---|
Grandidier's mongoose (Galidictis grandidieri) | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Eupleridae |
Subfamily: | Galidiinae |
Genus: | Galidictis I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1839 |
Type species | |
Mustela striata I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1837
| |
Species | |
Galidictis ranges |
The name is from two ancient Greek words that both approximately mean ‘weasel’: galid- (see Galidia) and iktis.[2] Compare the word Galictis (grison, a closer relative of the weasel).
It contains the following two species and two subspecies:[1]
Image | Scientific name | Subspecies | Common name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|---|
Galidictis fasciata |
|
Broad-striped Malagasy mongoose | Madagascar | |
Galidictis grandidieri | Grandidier's mongoose | Madagascar |
References
edit- ^ a b Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. "Galidictis". ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary attributes it to "NL, fr. Gk galideus young weasel + iktis yellow-breasted marten [an ambiguous common name that might be the weasel]." However, Lewis and Short describes ictis (ἴκτις) as simply "a kind of weasel".[1] Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine Brill's New Pauly likewise also writes that "ἴκτις/íktis may be a weasel"[2].