Melogale moschata (Gray, 1831)
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publication ID |
https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.5714044 |
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DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5714085 |
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persistent identifier |
https://treatment.plazi.org/id/038F87D4-CA40-FFAF-CAF9-3B33F7E5FA13 |
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treatment provided by |
Conny |
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scientific name |
Melogale moschata |
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18. View On
Small-toothed Ferret-badger
French: Mélogale de Chine / German: China-Sonnendachs / Spanish: Melandro chino
Other common names: Chinese Ferret-badger
Taxonomy. Helictis moschata Gray, 1831 View in CoL , S China.
Six subspecies are recognized.
Subspecies and Distribution.
M. m. moschata Gray, 1831 — SE China (Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan & Hainan I) and N Laos.
M. m. ferreogrisea Hilzheimer, 1905 — C China.
M. m. millsi Thomas, 1922 — S China (NW Yunnan) through N Myanmar to NE India.
M. m. sorella G. M.. Allen, 1929 — E China (Fujian).
M. m. subaurantiaca Swinhoe, 1862 — Taiwan.
M. m. taxilla Thomas, 1925 — Vietnam. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 30-40 cm, tail 10-15 cm; weight 0.8-1.6 kg. The tail is less than half of the head and body length. The Small-toothed Ferret-badger has a small, slender body and a long snout. The pelage varies from gray to black, with the darker fur contrasting with the light patches on the neck and head. The head has a distinct blackand-white pattern, generally with more black than the Large-toothed Ferret-badger but this is quite variable. The white stripe on the top of the head is narrow and incomplete and rarely extends past the shoulders. The tail is bushy, pale brown in color, and with a white tip. The limbs are short, and the feet have strong, thick, fairly straight claws. There are two pairs of mammae. The skull is long, high, and smooth, with widely separated temporal ridges. Dental formula: 13/3, C1/1, P 4/4, M 1/2 = 38. The teeth are relatively small, compared to Large-toothed Ferret-badger, with distinct gaps between the premolars. In the upper jaw: labial edge of P* is slightly concave; P* length over 6 mm; P' is slightly smaller than P*. In the lower jaw: M, talonid is without distinct cusps.
Habitat. Tropical and subtropical forests, wooded hillsides, grasslands, and cultivated areas. Often occurs in close proximity to humans.
Food and Feeding. The diet is said to include invertebrates (insects, earthworms), small mammals, birds, frogs, lizards, eggs, and fruits. In Taiwan, invertebrates had a relative importance index of 89%. In China, 163 scats contained 33% seeds and at least eight plant species. Small-toothed Ferret-badgers find food mainly by smell and sound and use their digging claws and probing snouts to dig for roots and earthworms.
Activity patterns. Nocturnal and crepuscular. Active year-round, but less active during the winter months. During the spring, both sexes are active outside their burrows for around eight hours; during the winter this decreases to less than six-and-a-half hours. Rest sites are in burrows, rock crevices, or in trees. In south-east China, radio-collared Small-toothed Ferret-badgers used a variety of shelters as daybeds including rodent dens (47%), firewood stacks (20%), open fields (17%), and rock piles around houses (5%). The distance between daily resting sites averaged 101 m and they often (51% of occasions) returned to rest sites used the previous day.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Small-toothed Ferret-badgers are solitary and mainly terrestrial, but they may climb trees. In south-east China, the size of resting home ranges (daybed locations only) of six radio-collared individuals averaged 11 ha (range 1-25 ha); no sex-specific differences in home range size were detected.
Breeding. Mating occurs in March. In south-east China, capture data suggests that Small-toothed Ferret-badgers give birth in May. Gestation is from 60 to 80 days. Litter size is usually one to four. The young are born blind and well-furred; the eyes remain closed for at least two weeks. There is one record of a female still nursing two nearly full-grown young in June.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern in The IUCN Red List. Very little is known about Small-toothed Ferret-badgers and more field studies are needed to learn more about their natural history, ecology, and conservation status. In Laos and Vietnam, there is often some confusion between Small-toothed and Large-toothed Ferret Badgers, so careful distinction between these two species needs to be made in these two countries. Small-toothed Ferret-badgers are hunted for their fur and meat in China and north-east India; in China, their fur is used for collars and jackets.
Bibliography. Allen (1929), Francis (2008), Lekagul & McNeely (1991), Neal (1986), Storz & Wozencraft (1999), Wang & Fuller (2003a), Wozencraft (2005, 2008), Zhou et al. (2008).
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.
