Paradoxurus aureus, F. CUVIER, 1822

Groves, Colin P., Rajapaksha, Channa & Manemandra-Arachchi, Kelum, 2009, The taxonomy of the endemic golden palm civet of Sri Lanka, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 155 (1), pp. 238-251 : 250

PARADOXURUS AUREUS F. CUVIER, 1822

GOLDEN WET- ZONE PALM CIVET

Type: mounted skin, no number, in Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle , Paris. The locality on the label is ‘ Ceylan’ ( Sri Lanka) .

Diagnosis: Red-gold to golden brown, with no special markings. Underside a paler gold than upper side, usually sharply set off zone. Skull large, very broad across zygomatic arches, with a wide muzzle, a rather high, rounded braincase, and a wide square occipital crest, with parallel sides. Coronoid process of mandible curved strongly backwards.

Distribution: Wet and intermediate zones, submontane zone, and probably cloud forest in the Central Highlands, Namunukula, and the Knuckles Range (Dumbara). There is no evidence so far to separate cloud-forest specimens from those from the wet zone.

CR has live-trapped a single individual (a male) of this species, at Kalupahana, in the Knuckles Range.