Suricata suricatta, Desmarest, 1804
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.5676639 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5698475 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/143F87B3-FFDE-FF99-FF0E-9AE7FAB7FB8C |
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treatment provided by |
Conny |
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scientific name |
Suricata suricatta |
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24. View On
Meerkat
Suricata suricatta View in CoL
French: Mangouste suricate / German: Erdméannchen / Spanish: Suricata
Other common names: Suricate, Slender-tailed Meerkat, Gray Meerkat
Taxonomy. Viverra suricatta Schreber, 1776 ,
Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
Three subspecies are recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
S. s. suricatta Schreber, 1776 — Botswana, South Africa, possibly Lesotho, and Kalahari Desert in Namibia.
S. s. iona Cabral, 1971 — SW Angola.
S. s. marjoniae Bradfield, 1936 — Namibia (Namib Desert). View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 24.5-29 cm (males), 26-285 cm (females), tail 20.5-24 cm (males), 19-23 cm (females), hindfoot 6:3.7-4 cm (males), 6-5—7-4 cm (females), ear 2-1 cm (18-26) (males), 1-8 cm (17-20) (females); weight 626-797 g (males), 620-969 g (females). Females become significantly larger and heavier upon assuming dominantstatus, averaging 750 g; nondominant females average 710 g. The Meerkat is a small mongoose, with a relatively large pointed muzzle. It has coarse, pale-gray, tan, orsilvery-brown fur, with dark transverse bands across the back, and black eye patches. The underparts are paler than the dorsum; the coat color is darker in the southern part of the species’ range. The fur on the tail is short, sparse on the underside, and yellowish with a black tip. The guard hairs are 15 mm at shoulder, increasing to 30-40 mm at the rump, decreasing to 20 mm at base of the tail and tapering to 12 mm attail tip. The dorsal guard hairs are light at the base, have two dark rings separated by a light band, and a silvery tip. The small, rounded ears can close to keep dust out while the animal digs: the posterior and superior ear ridges move forward and down. The tail is slender, not bushy, and the legs are thin. The muscular forelimbs have four digits, each with long claws (15 mm). The hindfeet also have four digits, with shorter claws (8 mm). The feet are naked to the wrist/ankle. There are three pairs of mammae. Meerkats lack cheek glands. The skull is high, broad, and rounded. Hindchambers of ear bullae larger relative to anterior. Closed orbital space. Relatively large eye sockets (more than 20% total skull length). Supra-orbital crest represented by low ridge. Saggital crest not present. Light zygomatic arches. Dental formula: 13/3, C1/1/,P 3/3, M 2/2 = 36. Outer upper incisors larger than other incisors. Upper canines straight,slightly flattened on inside. Lower canines distinctly recurved. Broad molars with sharp cusps. Poorly developed carnassial shear adapted for insectivory.
Habitat. Open semi-arid areas, scrub, rangeland, and grassland. Subterranean dens are used, which tend to be extensive, with multiple entrances and chambers. The temperatures within dens are more stable and comfortable than the hot and cold extremes on the surface. Meerkats are good diggers, and are likely to excavate some dens themselves, but usually occupy dens dug by other small mammals. Dens may be shared with South African Ground Squirrels or Yellow Mongooses.
Food and Feeding. Insectivorous diet, especially Coleoptera (beetles), Arachnids (scorpions and spiders), and Myriapoda (centipedes) larvae. Occasionally vertebrates (including lizards and small snakes) are consumed. Frequency of occurrence of food types from 23 stomachs collected from Botswana: Coleoptera larvae (91%), Scorpiones (35%), Coleoptera adults (17%), Orthoptera (17%), Myriapoda (13%), Reptilia (13%), and Isoptera (9%). Frequency of occurrence of prey items in 98 stomachs collected from Orange Free State ( South Africa): Coleoptera (58%), Lepidoptera (pupae and larvae) (43%), Isoptera (40%), Orthoptera (34%), Diptera (pupae, larvae) (23%), Arachnida (21%), Hymenoptera (15%), Dermaptera (12%), Chilopoda (10%), Dictyoptera (10%), Diplopoda (9%), Amphibia (5%), Reptilia (5%), Aves (2%), and Hemiptera (1%). Meerkats move as a loose group, with individuals foraging independently. Individuals generally walk, sniffing and scraping at the ground surface, and often stop and dig intensively for prey—sometimes disappearing from view in the deep hole they have dug. Potential food items, foraging holes and scrapes, are generally defended from approach by others, except for adults sharing food with young pups.
Activity patterns. Diurnal. A group sleeps together overnight in a subterranean den, emerging in early morning and returning before sunset. During the day the group forages together, usually resting in a shady area around midday. They usually start the day by sunbathing at the den and end the day relaxing by the den. Their behavioral repertoire includes foraging, resting, vigilance (including standing erect), self and allogrooming, social play, scent marking, and vocalization.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Meerkats live in social groups that share a home range, which theyjointly defend. Mean group size is 4-2 to 8:5 individuals (range = 3-20), with up to 49 recorded. Mean home range size is 5 km?* (range = 2-10 km?). Population density varies from 0-32-1-69 individuals/km?. Home ranges are defended, with larger groups usually displacing smaller groups. A group can cover up to 6 km in a day. Groups have around five dens within their home range; they generally occupy a different den every few days, but may use a den for longer periods when pups are present. Groups also have up to 1000 boltholes on their territory that they run to when danger threatens. Group encounters often result in chases or fights. When a fight occurs it is usually accompanied by piloerection, erection of the tail, tiptoe body stance, and a “war dance”. Groups are highly social, with grooming and marking utilized to maintain group bonding. Groups contain adult males and females, and the young of the dominant pair; the adult sex ratio is approximately equal. Within a group, most subordinate adults are related to the dominant female, but immigrant males are also commonly present. There is evidence of a dominance hierarchy, with dominant males and females regularly displacing subordinates from disputed sites, and marking four to five times more frequently. In addition, subordinate approaches and allogrooming are characterized by “creeping” behavior. Aggression over food items is common, but usually settled in favor of the owner. The group works as a whole in rearing young and repelling predators. Vocal communications include contact calls, emitted every few seconds, which maintain group cohesion while foraging. Growls and spits are used to defend resources from approach by another group member. Short, sharp alarm calls elicit rapid evasive behavior. These are most frequently given by individuals who are “on guard”, standing erect on a raised mound or dead tree. Group members take turns going “on guard” and give a “watchman’s song” to inform the group that they are sentries. Alarm calls carry specific information on predator type (aerial or terrestrial) and urgency. “Worry” calls warn group members of lower intensity danger. Pups emit two types of begging call, a constant repeat call and a highpitched “give-me-food” call when an adult finds a prey item. Olfactory communication is used for both intraand inter-group communication. Group members scent-mark by wiping each other and objects (e.g. rocks) with their anal gland. Such marking is often done communally, with all group members involved in synchronous bouts of scent marking. Urine and feces are also apparently used in communication, with individuals overmarking excretion sites. These “signals” from other groups often elicit excited and aggressive responses. Communal latrines are used to mark territory. Dominant individuals usually mark a territory.
Breeding. Females rarely conceive before they are two years old. The Meerkat is believed to be an induced ovulator and births are restricted to the wetter, warmer months (presumably correlated with invertebrate prey availability). Mating is rarely observed, occurring in the subterranean den, but mate-guarding by the dominant male has been observed. The Meerkat exhibits a despotic social system of high reproductive skew: generally only the dominant pair breeds. Dominant females produce 75% of litters and dominant males father 80% of pups within the group. In some cases this is due to inbreeding avoidance. When a second or subordinate female conceives,it is usually followed by infanticide or den desertion. Non-pregnant subordinate females are often evicted by the dominant female during the late stages of her pregnancy, but are allowed to return to the group after the birth of the dominant female's pups. The number oflitters per female per year varies from one to three, with dominant females producing more litters per year (mean 2-8) than subordinates (mean 0-9). The gestation period is approximately 70 days. Mean fetallitter size is 4-1 (range = 1-8); litter size at birth is three to seven. If more than one female gives birth within a group, the births usually occur within one week. The interbirth interval can be as little as 73 days, indicating that females can conceive within 4-12 days of parturition. The young are born with eyes and ears closed and short hair. Pup weight at birth is 25-36 g. Eyes open at 10-14 days. Following birth of the litter, pups are retained in the subterranean den until they are three to four weeks of age. The sex ratio of the pups at emergence from the den is approximately equal. During the period in the den, one or more individuals will remain at the den to “babysit” the pups, while the group forages. The babysitter usually changes every day. These babysitters guard the pups from predators and also probably help keep the pups warm. Breeder adults do relatively little babysitting; nonbreeding subordinates (helpers) make higher individual contributions. Allosuckling occurs: pups suckle milk from numerous females, including females that have not given birth. Weaning occurs at around two months of age (49-63 days). When the pups emerge from the den and begin accompanying the foraging group, helpers provide care by carrying and provisioning pups and defending them against predators. Provisioning involves dropping or leaving whole or partial prey items. In contrast to the social behavior of the Banded Mongoose, there is no pup escorting system and pups move between group members begging for food. Nevertheless, pup survival is higher in groups with more helpers. Although many litters fail completely within the first month (21%), 70% of pups are estimated to survive from weaning to independence. Annual survival rate for pups is 0-20, with adult annual survival rate a low 0-68. Annual survival rates of group members older than pups are dependent upon predator density. Predators likely include snakes (e.g. cape cobra Naja nivea), mammalian carnivores (e.g. Black-backed Jackal), and raptors (e.g. martial eagle Polemaetus bellicosus, bateleur eagle Terathopius ecaudatus, tawny eagle Aquila rapax, and pale chanting-goshawk Melierax canorus). In addition, pups are killed by neighboring Meerkat groups. There is no sex-bias to dispersal, but dispersal mode differs between the sexes. Subordinate females are forceably evicted by the dominant female, but males tend to leave voluntarily and prospect for females in other groups. Meerkats can live to over eight years in wild, and over twelve years in captivity.
Status and Conservation. Not CITESlisted. Classified as Least Concern in The [UCN Red List. A common species that appears to be unthreatened. Historically killed in rabies control efforts that mainly targeted the Yellow Mongoose. May be beneficial to farmers in controlling pest Lepidoptera species.
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