Salanoia
Genus of carnivores
Salanoia is a genus of euplerid carnivoran with two currently described species found in Madagascar. They are mongoose-like, which is reflected in the older versions of their English names, for example brown-tailed mongoose which is now called brown-tailed vontsira. The name Salanoia is derived from salano, one of the vernacular names for Salanoia concolor.
Vontsira is a Malagasy vernacular name that seems to apply to a few local species of local mongoose-like carnivores in the related genera Salanoia, Galidia, and Galidictis.
There have been new specimens found of Salanoia in Lac Alaotra, Madagascar. This new species have different physical characteristics from S. Concolor but have genetic similarities. However, there is morphological divergence that justifies this specimen as a new species of Salanoia.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Salanoia”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Galidia olivacea Geoffroy.png by I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (1805-1861), Public domain
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