Civettictis

Civettictis is a genus of viverrid that contains the extant African civet (Civettictis civetta) and a recently described extinct relative from the Plio-Pleistocene of South Africa known as Civettictis braini.^[1]

Civettictis Temporal range: Late Pliocene - Recent
African civet (Civettictis civetta)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Clade:	Sarcopterygii
Clade:	Tetrapodomorpha
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Viverridae
Subfamily:	Viverrinae
Genus:	Civettictis Pocock, 1915
Species
Civettictis civetta †Civettictis braini

Evolution

A 2006 phylogenetic study showed that the African civet is closely related to the genus Viverra. It was estimated that the Civettictis-Viverra clade diverged from Viverricula around 16.2 Mya; the African civet split from Viverra 12.3 Mya. The authors suggested that the subfamily Viverrinae should be bifurcated into Genettinae (Poiana and Genetta) and Viverrinae (Civettictis, Viverra and Viverricula). The following cladogram is based on this study.^[2]

	Small Indian civet (Viverricula indica) African civet (Civettictis civetta) Viverra Large Indian civet (Viverra zibetha) Large-spotted civet (V. megaspila) Malayan civet (V. tangalunga) Genetta Poiana