Palm-Civet

Palm-Civet, or Paradoxure, the name of the members of the civet-like genus Paradoxurus, represented by several species mainly from south-east Asia. (See Carnivora.) Palm-civets are mostly about the size of the domestic cat, or rather larger, chiefly arboreal in habits, with dark uniform, spotted or striped fur. The common Indian palm-civet (P. niger) ranges throughout India, wherever there are trees, frequently taking up its abodes in roof-thatch. Its diet consists of small mammals and reptiles, birds and their eggs, fruit and vegetables. From four to six young are brought forth at a litter, and are easily tamed. Other species are the Ceylonese P. aureus, the brown P. jerdoni, the Himalayan P. grayi and the Malayan P. Hermaphroditus. The small-toothed palm-civets, from the Malay Archipelago, Sumatra and Java, have been separated from the typical group to form the genus Arctogale. In Africa the group is represented by two species of Nandinia, which show several primitive characters.