Crossarchus obscurus F. G. Cuvier 1825

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Carnivora, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 532-628 : 563

Crossarchus obscurus F. G. Cuvier 1825

Crossarchus obscurus F. G. Cuvier 1825 , in: E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and F. G. Cuvier, Nat. Mammiferes, Hist., pt. 3, Vol. 5, 47: "Mangue, " 3 pp., 1 pl.

Type Locality: "côtes occidentales de l'Afrique, et vraisemblablement des parties qui sont au midi de la Gambie " restricted by F. G. Cuvier (1829:158) to " Sierra Leone ".

Vernacular Names: Common Kusimanse.

Synonyms: Crossarchus punctatissimus (Temminck 1853) .

Distribution: Côte d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Ghana (west of the Dahomey Gap).

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Goldman (1984) separated central ( C. platycephalus ) from western ( C. obscurus ) African populations based on phenetic differences in skull proportions. Wozencraft (1989 b) argued that these populations are conspecific. Reviewed by Goldman (1987). The separation of C. platycephalus from C. obscurus has been generally supported by others ( Colyn and Van Rompaey, 1994).