Mungotictis decemlineata (Grandidier, 1867) Pocock, 1915

Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2009, Eupleridae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 1 Carnivores, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 330-351 : 350-351

7.

Narrow-striped Boky

Mungotictis decemlineata

French: Galidie a dix raies / German: Schmalstreifenmungo / Spanish: Galidia rayada

Other common names: Narrow-striped Mongoose, Boky, Boky-boky

Taxonomy. Galidia decemlineata Grandidier, 1867 ,

“a la cote ouest de Madagascar ”. The previous statement that the type locality is the “east coast of Madagascar ” is incorrect .

An animal from the Toliara region was described as Galidictis vittata. This species was subsequently transferred to the genus Mungotictis by Pocock, which contained two species: M. vittatus, which was preoccupied by G. wvittata, and M. substriatus, which was renamed as M. lineatus. To further complicate the situation, Pocock was apparently unaware of the description of Galidia decemlineata, the senior synonym that replaced vittatus (sensu Gray, 1848). Finally, R. Albignac divided the species into two geographic forms, M. d. decemlineata and M. d. lineata, but the single specimen he referred to the latter form was actually of Grandidier’s Vontsira. The name M. d. lineata has been retained for the south-western population, which until 2005 was only known from a single specimen associated with M. lineatus. M. d. lineata is maintained here as a geographical form. Several measurement and pelage coloration characters separate this population from those occurring farther north. These differences may warrant the two geographical forms being recognized as full species; molecular studies should help to resolve this point. Two subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

M. d. decemlineata Grandidier, 1867 — CW Madagascar (Menabe region).

M. d. lineata Pocock, 1915 — SW Madagascar (S of the Mangoky River). The previous records ofthis form in the Lac Tsimanampetsotsa area are misidentified specimens of Grandidier’s Vontsira.

Descriptive notes. Adults of the nominate form from the central Menabe region, M. d. decemlineata: head-body 26.4-29. 4 cm, tail 19.1-20. 9 cm, hindfoot 6.6-2 cm, ear 2-4— 2-5 cm; weight of adult males is 475-625 g, adult females is 450-740 g, and juveniles 350-490 g. No apparent sexual dimorphism in external measurements. Measurements of an adult female M. d. lineata include: head-body 33-5 cm,tail 21-5 cm, hindfoot 5-9 cm, ear 2-5 cm. The Narrow-striped Boky’s long, pointed snout, cylindrical body, short legs, and long bushy tail easily distinguish this relatively small animal from other Madagascar Carnivores. The dorsal pelage coloration of the nominate form is a grizzled gray mixed with light brown or beige and is characterized by eight to ten broadly-spaced, thin longitudinal stripes running from the nape to the base ofthe tail. The venter and legs are monochrome pale brownish-beige to pale orangish-brown. The ears are short and rounded. The light gray tail is without stripes or rings. There is webbing between the toes and the claws are long. Mungotictis d. lineata has a darker dorsum and the back stripes are darker and more distinct. They start as well-defined stripes higher on the nape andjust behind the ears. The venteris distinctly darker than the nominate form’s and approaches a russet color.

Habitat. In the central and northern portions ofits distribution, the Narrow-striped Boky occurs at elevations from near sea level to 400 m in dry deciduous forests on sandy substrate. Baobab trees are often the dominant vegetation. These forested zones tend to have relatively intact habitat, with a dense understory and notably homogenous vegetational structure and floristic composition. The Tsiribihina River formsits northern distributional limit. This species tends to be distinctly more common in the larger areas of native forest and is uncommon, absent or extirpated from smaller and degraded forest blocks. In 2004, an individual referable to M. d. lineata was captured on the southern bank of the Manombo River at approximately 400 m above sea level and in dry deciduous forest. On both banks of the river, thin alluvial soils support a 25-50 m wide band of disturbed gallery forest immediately adjacent to the flood plain. Beyond this, the gallery forest gives way to dry deciduous forest, with a taller canopy layer.

Food and Feeding. Narrow-striped Boky is primarily insectivorous. In one study 69 of 71 scats contained insects. Particularly during the extended dry-cold season, it feeds largely on insect larvae, which are extracted by digging them out from soil or rotten wood. This speciesis also known to feed on a variety of vertebrates, including reptiles, birds, and small mammals (tenrecs, shrew-tenrecs, native rodents, and lemurs), as well as other invertebrates such as snails. Scat analyses found a variety of primate remains, including Gray Mouse Lemur (Microcebus murinus), Lesser Dwarf Lemur, Giant Mouse Lemur (Mirza coquereli), and Red-tailed Sportive Lemur (Lepilemur ruficaudatus), of which the Red-tailed Sportive Lemur, weighing close to 850 g, is the largest and was probably scavenged. Remains of the rodent Votsovotsa, which can weigh over 1 kg,also were found and presumably were also the result of scavenging. There are records of this species cooperatively hunting prey such as mouse-lemurs, adults of which weigh more than 50 g. Based on local folklore, Narrow-striped Boky is reputed to feed on large boas and regularly on wild honey. There is no evidence of extensive fat storage before the onset of the dry season.

Activity patterns. Narrow-striped Boky is largely diurnal, but on occasion can be active at night. This speciesis considered scansorial; it mainly moves on the ground but can climb and descend trees, including vertical surfaces. It has been reported to swim, but no recent confirmation of this behavioris available.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Earlier studies, largely of Narrowstriped Boky in captivity, concluded that they were not particularly social but tend to live in couples. Recent research in the wild indicates that they are notably gregarious and have a complex social system with some particularly interesting intricacies. In a telemetry study conducted in the Kirindy forest Centre de Formation Professionnelle Forestiére by L.. Razafimanantsoa, 26 animals (20 adults and six sub-adults) were captured and marked in an area of about 90 ha. These animals belonged to different groups and included dispersing solitary individuals. A good proportion of the marked animals were not seen again in the study area, which was occupied by two different groups. The first group was composed of two adult females, an adult male, a sub-adult female, and one of the previous season’s young; the second group was two adult females and a sub-adult male. The home range ofthe first group was calculated as about 18 ha and the second group 13 ha. These figures are notably smaller than previous inferred estimates of 20-25 ha. The ranges of the two groups overlapped over an area of about 1-5 ha. In the overlap zone, group members intensively scent-marked using glandular secretions and no aggressive interactions were observed between them.

Based on these radio-tracking studies, individual Narrow-striped Boky can traverse a distance of 2200 m in a single day, of which two-thirds is covered during the morning.

This species often can be observed in groups with three to five adults, and depending on the season, with numerous sub-adults. Groups of more than ten individuals have been observed and, in certain areas, the age and sex ratio remains stable over the course of years. As a group moves through the forest, the alpha female plays the role of “leader”. After mating, the males will generally leave the female group for several months. Lone individuals can be observed, particularly towards the end of the dry season, and these are presumed to be solitary males. During the mating period, males were tolerant of visiting males and even allowed them to copulate with group females. Some marked males visited the female groups frequently both during and outside the mating period, and this social configuration has been referred to as a “super-group”. Narrow-striped Bokys appear to have a limited vocal repertoire. After birth, the young emit a shrill call that is very similar to a communication call between adult males and females, and can be transcribed as “bouk-bouk”. Almost certainly, the Malagasy name of this animal is the onomatopoeic form of this vocalization. The Narrow-striped Boky often erects its fluffy tail, which is undoubtedly for visual communication. Narrowstriped Boky has well-developed jaw, neck, and anal glands that it uses to mark vertcal vegetation, tree trunks, and the ground. This animal uses three different types of night shelters, depending on the season: partially collapsed and abandoned ant burrows during the dry, cold season; hollows in fallen dead trees at the beginning of the rainy, warm season; and cavities up to 10 m above the ground in standing dead or living trees during the rainy, warm season. Underground burrows are at least partially excavated, with a single tunnel entrance terminating as a chamber. This carnivore is known to share tree hollows with a variety of nocturnal lemurs, but the species are not in direct contact, as they occupy different portions of the cavity. Groups regularly move between different resting shelters, generally along the periphery of their home range, which may help to reduce ectoparasite loads. Narrow-striped Bokys are preyed upon by Fossa .

Breeding. In the Kirindy (CFPF) Forest, mating takes place in August. In the early morning, soon after sunrise, the male arrives at the burrow entrance of the female and waits for her to exit. At the onset of each encounter, females are vocal and aggressive towards the males. These agonistic interactions decrease over the course of an hour, and eventually the male can mount the female. They then copulate up to three times, and in each case, the period of intromission decreases. Subsequently, the male leaves the group for several months. The alpha-female is apparently receptive before any other females of the same group. The gestation period is estimated to be between 90 and 105 days; however, a recent estimate of 74 days has been advanced. Females give birth to a single baby weighing about 50 g, and there appears to be some synchrony between females living in the same group. At birth, neonates already have their ears and eyes open; their fur coloration is slightly lighter than that of adults. The young appear to be particularly precocious, walking within a day of being born. The incisors erupt by four days, and they eat solid food within 15 days, although they continue to nurse for about two months. They are agile climbers by 45 days and are actively hunting within three months. Soon after birth, the young are placed in communal creche sites, with an opening small enough that adult Narrow-striped Boky cannot enter. The young exit the site and feed when they are called by their mothers; they nurse three times a day the first week after birth. In late afternoon, before sunset, mothers take their respective babies from the créche to a night shelter. Sexual maturity is apparently reached at two years of age.

Status and Conservation. Listed in The IUCN Red List as Vulnerable; however, the result of a Conservation Breeding Specialist Group workshop sponsored by the IUCN/SSC held in 2001 and attended by specialists working on Madagascar Carnivores gave the status of decemlineata as Threatened and that of lineata as Data Deficient. On the basis of a recent trapping survey of the central portion of the Menabe region, the local population is estimated to be 2000-3400 adults and that of the S Menabe region (to the northern bank of the Mangoky River) as 6400-8650 adults. In the central Menabe, the area of occupancy was estimated as 900 km * and the extent of occurrence as 1524 km?. For the southern Menabe population, the figures are 1871 km ® and 8729 km? respectively. No comparable information is available on the population of lineata occurring south of the Mangoky River. The factors limiting the distribution of this species are associated with forest cover, but at a series of sample sites, the abundance of decemlineata was not correlated with variables such as soil structure,litter depth, or invertebrate abundance. It has been proposed that building access roads for logging or other forms of exploitation greatly increases threats to this animal, including predation or harassment by dogs, and the destruction of the forest understory by domestic livestock. Further, in certain portions of this species’ range people hunt it for bush meat. The dry deciduous forests of western Madagascar are under the most severe human pressures of any natural forest formation on the island. The recently trapped M. d. lineata specimen was obtained in a region known as the Mikea Forest, spanning the zone from the Fiherenana River north to the Mangoky River. In this region there are several species of locally restricted endemic animals, including two recently described species of small mammals discovered during a 2003 expedition to the zone. The occurrence of M. d. lineata in this forest block helps to underscore the need to protectit. Initial steps have been taken to place a portion of the southern Mikea Forest, the zone between the Manombo and Fiherenana Rivers, into a conservation area.

Bibliography. Albignac (1971b, 1972, 1973, 1976, 1984), Conservation Breeding Specialist Group (SSC/IUCN) (2002), Goodman (2003a), Goodman & Raselimanana (2003), Goodman, Thomas & Kidney (2005), Hawkins, A.FA. et al. (2000), Hawkins, C.E. & Racey (2007), IUCN (2007), Nicoll & Langrand (1989), Pocock (1915b), Rabeantoandro (1997), Rasolonandrasana (1994), Razafimanantsoa (2003), Schreiber et al. (1989), Woolaver et al. (2006), Wozencraft (1986).

Figures

On following pages: 2. Falanouc (Eupleres goudotii); 3. Spotted Fanaloka (Fossa fossana); 4. Ring-tailed Vontsira (Galidia elegans); 5. Broad-striped Vontsira (Galidictis fasciata); 6. Grandidier's Vontsira (Galidictis grandidier:; 7. Narrow-striped Boky (Mungotictis decemlineata); 8. Brown-tailed Vontsira (Salanoia concolor.

Subspecies and Distribution. M. d. decemlineata Grandidier, 1867 — CW Madagascar (Menabe region). M. d. lineata Pocock, 1915 — SW Madagascar (S of the Mangoky River). The previous records ofthis form in the Lac Tsimanampetsotsa area are misidentified specimens of Grandidier’s Vontsira.