Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Carnivora > Herpestidae > Atilax > Atilax paludinosus

Atilax paludinosus (Marsh Mongoose)

Synonyms: Athylax paludinosus; Herpestes paludinosus (homotypic); Mungos paludinosus

Wikipedia Abstract

The marsh mongoose or water mongoose (Atilax paludinosus) is a medium-sized mammal, but a large mongoose. Its weight can range from 2 to 5.5 kg (4.4 to 12.1 lb), with an average range of 2.5 to 4.1 kg (5.5 to 9.0 lb). From the head to the base of the tail, these animals range from 44 to 62 cm (17 to 24 in), with the tail adding 25–36 cm (9.8–14.2 in). It is a member of the mongoose family and the only member of its genus. Atilax paludinosus is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, with a preference for permanent freshwater habitats bordered by dense vegetation, such as marshes, reed beds, and estuaries (though sightings have been recorded in hilly areas with little or no aquatic wildlife presence). The marsh mongoose is an important member of the community of animals inhabiting the papyrus
View Wikipedia Record: Atilax paludinosus

Infraspecies

Atilax paludinosus macrodon
Atilax paludinosus mitis
Atilax paludinosus mordax (Marsh mongoose)
Atilax paludinosus nigerianus
Atilax paludinosus paludinosus (Marsh mongoose)
Atilax paludinosus pluto
Atilax paludinosus robustus
Atilax paludinosus rubellus (Marsh mongoose)
Atilax paludinosus rubescens
Atilax paludinosus spadiceus
Atilax paludinosus transvaalensis (Marsh mongoose)

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
9
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
34
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 18.67
EDGE Score: 2.98
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Gestation [3]  76 days
Litter Size [3]  2
Litters / Year [3]  2
Maximum Longevity [3]  21 years
Snout to Vent Length [5]  22 inches (56 cm)
Water Biome [1]  Lakes and Ponds, Rivers and Streams
Weaning [3]  36 days
Adult Weight [2]  6.083 lbs (2.759 kg)
Birth Weight [3]  100 grams
Female Weight [2]  5.648 lbs (2.562 kg)
Male Weight [2]  6.517 lbs (2.956 kg)
Weight Dimorphism [2]  15.4 %
Diet [4]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates), Piscivore
Diet - Ectothermic [4]  20 %
Diet - Endothermic [4]  30 %
Diet - Fish [4]  10 %
Diet - Invertibrates [4]  40 %
Forages - Ground [4]  100 %
Female Maturity [5]  7 months 25 days
Male Maturity [3]  8 months 15 days

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Cape Floristic Region South Africa No
Coastal Forests of Eastern Africa Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, Tanzania No
Eastern Afromontane Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Zimbabwe No
Guinean Forests of West Africa Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Togo No
Maputaland-Pondoland-Albany Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland No

Prey / Diet

Prey / Diet Overlap

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Cloeoascaris spinicollis[9]
Paragonimus uterobilateralis[9]

Range Map

External References

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 2Atilax paludinosus, C. M. Baker, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 408, pp. 1-6 (1992)
♦ 3de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
♦ 4Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 5Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 6The Yellow Mongoose Cynictis penicillata and Other Small Carnivores in the Mountain Zebra National Park, C. F. Du Toit, Koedoe 23:179-184 (1980)
♦ 7del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
♦ 8Otomys angoniensis, G. N. Bronner and J. A. J. Meester, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 306, pp. 1-6 (1988)
♦ 9Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0