Small Asian mongoose | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Herpestidae |
Genus: | Herpestes |
Species: | H. javanicus |
Binomial name | |
Herpestes javanicus (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818) |
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Subspecies | |
H. j. javanicus |
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Small Asian mongoose range |
H. j. javanicus
H. j. auropunctatus
H. j. exilis
H. j. orientalis
H. j. pallipes
H. j. palustris
H. j. peninsulae
H. j. perakensis
H. j. rafflesii
H. j. rubifrons
H. j. siamensis
H. j. tjerapai
The small Asian mongoose (Herpestes javanicus) is a species of mongoose found in the wild in South and Southeast Asia. It has also been introduced to Hawaii, the Bahamas, Cuba, Croatia, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, the Lesser Antilles, Belize, Honduras, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Colombia, Suriname, Venezuela, Guyana and Mafia Island. The western subspecies group is sometimes treated as a separate species, the Indian mongoose or small Indian mongoose (Herpestes palustris).
This species of mongoose is sympatric with Herpestes edwardsii in much of its native range and can be readily distinguished from the latter species by its much smaller size. The body is slender and the head is elongated with a pointed snout. The lengths of the head and body is 509-671mm. The ears are short. They have five toed feet with long claws. The sexes differ in size with males having a wider head and bigger size.