Genetta servalina, Pucheran, 1855
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.5714564 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5714866 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/FC03440B-FFF2-FF92-EF9D-494EF8CFF846 |
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treatment provided by |
Conny |
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scientific name |
Genetta servalina |
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Servaline Genet
French: Genette servaline / German: Serval-Genette / Spanish: Gineta servalina
Taxonomy. Genetta servalina Pucheran, 1855 View in CoL ,
Gabon.
G. cristata was previously included as a subspecies of G. servalina , but is treated here as a valid species. Hybridization between G. servalina and G. cristata may be occurring in a sympatric zone: in central Cameroon, northern Gabon, and the PR Congo. Five subspecies are recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
G. s. servalina Pucheran, 1855 — Cameroon, Central African Republic, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon.
G. s. archeri Van Rompaey & Colyn, 1998 — Zanzibar I.
G. s. bettoni Thomas, 1902 — DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, and Sudan.
G. s. lower Kingdon, 1977 —S Tanzania.
G. s. schwarz Crawford-Cabral, 1970 — PR Congo. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 49-51 cm (males), 44.5-49. 5 cm (females), tail 45—46-5 cm (males), 36.8-48. 5 cm (females), hindfoot 8:7.9-2 cm (males), 8.9-5 cm (females), ear 4-6 cm (1 male), 4.4-2 cm (females); weight 2-3 kg (females). The coat color ranges from gray to ocherous yellow. The dark mid-dorsalline is discontinuous and there is no dorsal crest. The large black spots on the dorsal pelage run in longitudinal rows, with the top three rows being the most uniform. These spots become smaller and more randomly spaced towards the ventral pelage. The chest and throat have only a few small spots. The face has a dark mask and a pair of supraand subocular white spots. The tail has eight to twelve pale rings alternating with dark rings. The width of the pale rings relative to the dark rings in the middle of the tail is less than 20%; the tip ofthe tail is pale. The forelimbs and hindlimbs are boldly spotted. The forelegs are pale on the innermost side, with some scattered small spots, and dark gray above with small round spots. The inner hindlegs are dark gray, unspotted and have a grayish patch over the upper metatarsal region. The feet are dark. There is one pair of teats. The posterior chamber of the auditory bulla is inflated ventrally and has a continuous curve line on the external side. The premaxillary-frontal contact is present. The ratio between the inter-orbital constriction and frontal width is more than 1 £ 0-12. Dental formula: 13/3, C1/1,P 4/4, M 2/2 = 40.
Habitat. Primary and secondary forest, woodland savannah, savannah-forest mosaic, and gallery forest. Also found in wet forest, high-altitude bamboo forest, and coral rag thicket. Found up to at least 3500 m. Ecological niche modelling has predicted a potential broad distribution: the whole rainforest zone (Upper and Lower Guinean Blocks and Congo Basin); degraded lowland rainforest (N Cameroon, Central African Republic, DR Congo, Uganda, and Kenya); deciduous forest and woodlands ( Tanzania); mangroves ( Mozambique and Nigeria); and the deciduous forest and woodlands of southern Africa ( Angola, Zambia, and Mozambique).
Food and Feeding. In the Central African Republic, the frequency of occurrence of prey items in 35 scats was: 77% mammals (mostly shrews and rodents), 71% arthropods (termites, beetles, and orthopterans), 14% reptiles and amphibians (snakes, lizards, and anurans), 6% birds, and 3% fruit. One individual has been observed scavenging a duiker (Cephalophus spp).
Activity patterns. Thought to be nocturnal.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Considered solitary, but has been seen in pairs. Hunts on the ground and at low level in bushes. Feces are often deposited under overhanging rocks.
Breeding. Births have been reported in Uganda from February to August.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Considered common, but is not well known and field studies are needed. Re-discovered in the Udzungwa Mountains National Park ( Tanzania), after a gap of nearly 70 years. There are no known major threats, but may be undergoing localized declines in some regions due to hunting for bushmeat and skins.
Bibliography. Brink et al. (2002), Charles-Dominique (1978), De Luca & Mpunga (2002, 2005), Gaubert, Papes & Peterson (2006), Gaubert, Taylor & Veron (2005), Gaubert, Tranier et al. (2004), Gaubert, Veron & Tranier (2002), Goldman & Winther-Hansen (2003), Ray & Sunquist (2001), Taylor (1970b), Van Rompaey & Colyn (1998, In press g), Wozencraft (2005).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
