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Crossarchus

Genus of carnivores

Crossarchus ansorgei

Crossarchus obscurus

Crossarchus platycephalus

Crossarchus is a mongoose genus, commonly referred to as kusimanse, often cusimanse, mangue, or dwarf mongoose. They are placed in the subfamily Mungotinae, which are small, highly social mongooses.

Range and habitat

Members of this genus are found in the swamplands and forests of central and western Africa, in the countries of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

Species

Image	Scientific name	Common name	Distribution
	Crossarchus alexandri	Alexander's kusimanse	Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda
	Crossarchus ansorgei	Angolan kusimanse	Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola
[[File:The carnivores of West Africa BHL8726423, Crossarchus obscurus.jpg	120px]]	Crossarchus obscurus	Common kusimanse	Ghana, Ivory Coast, Benin, Liberia, and Sierra Leone
	Crossarchus platycephalus	Flat-headed kusimanse	Benin, Cameroon and Nigeria

Diet

They feed on insects, larvae, small reptiles, crabs and berries. They use their claws and snouts for digging in leaf litter, under rotted trees and stones for the insects and larvae. They will also wade into shallow streams looking for freshwater crabs.

In most areas where members of Crossarchus live, they are the numerically dominant members of the forest carnivore community.

Reproduction

Females are polyestrous and if not mated will come into heat nine times in a year. Litters range from 2-3 per year. The young can open their eyes in about twelve days, eating solid food in three weeks and have adult hair in five weeks.

Behavior

Crossarchus live in groups of 10 to 24. One to three families live in a group. The families are made up of the mating pair and the young. They are diurnal, and will wander throughout their territories constantly, never staying in one place too long. In their wanderings they will create temporary shelters for themselves. As they do not occupy permanent den sites, the young are not able to keep up with the group for several weeks and must be carried to different foraging spots. Individuals in the group take turns carrying the young from place to place and also help feed them.

Since the sociable kusimanses do not live in open habitat, they maintain contact in the dense rainforest understory by giving constant whistling calls while traveling.

Local names

They are known in French as Mangouste brune and in German as Dunkelkusimanse.

References

Dunham, Amy E.. (2003–2004). "Mongooses and Fossa (Herpestidae)". Gale.
Ray, J. C.. (2001). "African Rain Forest Ecology and Conservation: An Interdisciplinary Perspective". Yale University Press.
Veron, G.. (2010). "Carnivoran Evolution: New Views on Phylogeny, Form, and Function". Cambridge University Press.
Olson, Annette Lynn. (2001). "The Behavior and Ecology of the Long-Nosed Mongoose, Crossarchus obscurus". University of Miami.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

mongooses-of-sub-saharan-africa kusimanses taxa-named-by-frédéric-cuvier

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