Rusty-spotted genet

The rusty-spotted genet (Genetta maculata),^[2] also called panther genet and large-spotted genet, is a genet that is widely distributed in sub-Saharan Africa. It is considered common and therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.^[1]

Rusty-spotted genet
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Viverridae
Genus:	Genetta
Species:	G. maculata
Binomial name
Genetta maculata (Gray, 1830)
Rusty-spotted genet range

Characteristics

The rusty-spotted genet has short whitish grey to pale yellow coloured fur with dark spots and a continuous dark line across the back. The spots of the upper two dorsal rows are round or square, brown in the center and darker outside. In head-to-body length it ranges from 42 to 52 cm (17 to 20 in). Its 40 to 53 cm (16 to 21 in) long tail is ringed and has a dark tip. Its feet are of the same colour as the fur. It weighs from 1.3 to 3 kg (2.9 to 6.6 lb).^[3]

Behaviour and ecology

Research in southeastern Nigeria revealed that the rusty-spotted genet has an omnivorous diet. It feeds on rodents like giant pouched rats (Cricetomys), Nigerian shrew (Crocidura nigeriae), Temminck's mouse (Mus musculoides), Tullberg's soft-furred mouse (Praomys tulbergi), Peters's striped mouse (Hybomys univittatus), typical striped grass mouse (Lemniscomys striatus), red-eyed dove (Streptopelia semitorquata), common agama (Agama agama), Mabuya skinks, Myriapoda, spiders, Orthoptera and Coleoptera as well as eggs, fruits, berries and seeds.^[4]

Taxonomy

In 1830, John Edward Gray first described a rusty-spotted genet using the name Viverra maculata based on a zoological specimen that lived in the menagerie at the Tower of London.^[5] In the 19th and 20th centuries, several taxonomists proposed the following species and subspecies for specimens obtained by natural history museums:^[2]

• fieldiana Du Chaillu, 1860^[6]
• aequatorialis Heuglin, 1866^[7]
• erlangeri, gleimi, schraderi, stuhlmanni, suahelica, zambesiana Matschie, 1902^[8]
• matschiei Neumann, 1902^[9]
• pumila Hollister, 1916^[10]
• insularis Cabrera, 1921^[11]
• rubiginosa zuluensis Roberts, 1924^[12]
• soror Schwarz, 1929^[13]
• rubiginosa albiventris Roberts, 1932^[14]
• deorum Funaioli and Simonetta, 1960^[15]
• pardina schoutedeni Crawford-Cabral, 1970^[16]

Genetta letabae (Thomas and Schwann, 1906),^[17] formerly considered a subspecies, is now thought to be a separate species.^[18]