Crossarchus ansorgei, F. G. Cuvier, 1825

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2009, Herpestidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 1 Carnivores, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 262-328 : 324

26.

Angolan Cusimanse

Crossarchus ansorgei

French: Mangouste d’'Ansorge / German: Angola-Kusimanse / Spanish: Cusimansé de Angola

Other common names: Angolan Mongoose, Ansorge’s Cusimanse

Taxonomy. Crossarchus ansorget Thomas, 1910 ,

Ndalla Tando, Angola.

Two subspecies are recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

C. a. ansorget Thomas, 1910 — N Angola.

C. a. ngricolor Colyn & Van Rompaey, 1990 — DR Congo ( Congo River Basin).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 32-36 cm, tail 20-8 cm (male), 22-1 cm (female), hindfoot 7 cm (male), 6 cm (female), ear 2: 4 cm (male); weight 0.6-1. 5 kg (males).

Dark shaggy fur with dense brown underfur. C. a. ansorgei is reddish-brown, with annulated hairs, a dark crown and pale face, but lacks a facial stripe. C. a. nigricoloris black and has white flashes on the cheeks from the corner of the mouth to the neck below the ear. The face is pale. There is some white or yellow speckling on the upper body and a dark dorsal line from the nuchal crest to the base of the tail. Its snout-like nose is the shortest of the cusimanses (rostrum 31-5% of condylobasal length, compared to 34-36% for other cusimanses). Short, rounded ears, capable of closing via movement of posterior ridges. Pupils are horizontally elongated. Relatively short tail and short legs. Five digits on foreand hindfeet. Well-developed claws on forefeet. Area between digital and plantar pads naked, with naked heel on hindfeet. No obvious sexual dimorphism (except male tail more bushy than female). The subspecies nigricolor of the Angolan Cusimanse is sympatric with Alexander’s Cusimanse in DR Congo, but is smaller (head-body <34-2 cm, condylobasal <67 mm, postdental palate length half width). Skulls show no sexual dimorphism in size. Condylobasal 59-4-65-9 mm. Rostrum 18-1-21 mm. Zygomatic breadth 31-2-35-2 mm. Ectotympanic bullae inflated less than entotympanic bullae. Skull bullae more inflated than Alexander’s Cusimanse. Dental formula: 13/3, C1/1,P 3/3, M 2/2 = 36.

Habitat. Deciduous rainforest. Apparently nevervisits agricultural or human-inhabited land (in contrast to sympatric Alexander’s Cusimanse).

Food and Feeding. Believed to be strictly carnivorous (based upon captive observations). Feeds on invertebrates and vertebrates of the forest floor and in rotting logs, eating mostly insects, larvae, eggs, and small vertebrates.

Activity patterns. Believed to be diurnal.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Social. Groups of up to 20 or more appear to rove, with no fixed dens.

Breeding. Nothing known.

Status and Conservation. Not CITES listed. Classified as Data Deficient in The IUCN Red List. In the[IUCN/SSC Action Plan for the conservation of Mustelids and Viverrids (1989) listed as “known or likely to be threatened”. Appears to be locally abundant, but is commonly hunted and consumed, and is frequently found in bush-meat markets. Most frequently killed mammal (6% of all hunted mammal species) in the Ubilo River region ( DR Congo). In Angola only a single specimen has been collected, in 1908, north of the Cuanza River. Least known species within the genus Crossarchus .

Bibliography. Coetzee (1977), Colyn (1984), Colyn & Van Rompaey (1990, 1994a), Colyn et al. (1987), Ewer (1973), Goldman (1984, 1987), IUCN (2008), Kingdon (1997), Schreiber et al. (1989), Van Rompaey & Colyn (1992, In press c), Wozencraft (2005).

Figures

On following pages: 25. Alexander's Cusimanse (Crossarchus alexandri); 26. Angolan Cusimanse (Crossarchus ansorgel); 27. Common Cusimanse (Crossarchus obscurus); 28. Flat-headed Cusimanse (Crossarchus platycephalus); 29. Ethiopian Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale hirtula); 30. Common Dwarf Mongoose (Helogale parvula); 31. Pousargues’s Mongoose (Dologale dybowskii): 32. Liberian Mongoose (Liberiictis kuhni); 33. Gambian Mongoose (Mungos gambianus); 34. Banded Mongoose (Mungos mungo).

Subspecies and Distribution. C. a. ansorget Thomas, 1910 — N Angola . C. a. ngricolor Colyn & Van Rompaey, 1990 — DR Congo ( Congo River Basin).