Galidictis
Grandidier's mongoose (Galidictis grandidieri)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Eupleridae
Subfamily: Galidiinae
Genus: Galidictis
I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1839
Type species
Mustela striata
I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1837
Species

Galidictis fasciata
Galidictis grandidieri

Galidictis ranges

Galidictis is a genus in the subfamily Galidiinae of the family Eupleridae: a group of carnivorans that are endemic to Madagascar.[1]

The name is from two ancient Greek words that both approximately mean ‘weasel’: galid- (see Galidia) and iktis.[2] Compare the word Galictis (grison, a closer relative of the weasel).

It contains the following two species and two subspecies:[1]

Image Scientific name Subspecies Common name Distribution
Galidictis fasciata
  • Galidictis fasciata fasciata
  • Galidictis fasciata striatus
 Broad-striped Malagasy mongoose Madagascar
Galidictis grandidieri Grandidier's mongoose Madagascar

References

  1. ^ a b Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. "Galidictis". ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
  2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary attributes it to "NL, fr. Gk galideus young weasel + iktis yellow-breasted marten [an ambiguous common name that might be the weasel]." However, Lewis and Short describes ictis (ἴκτις) as simply "a kind of weasel".[1] Archived 2013-11-02 at the Wayback Machine Brill's New Pauly likewise also writes that "ἴκτις/íktis may be a weasel"[2].


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