Prionodontinae
| Asiatic linsang | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Prionodon pardicolor | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: |
Prionodontidae Thomas Horsfield, 1822 |
| Subfamily: |
Prionodontinae Gray, 1864 |
| Genus: |
Prionodon Horsfield, 1822 |
| Species | |
The Asiatic linsang (Prionodon) is a genus comprising two species native to Southeast Asia: the banded linsang (Prionodon linsang) and the spotted linsang (Prionodon pardicolor).Prionodon is considered basal to the Feliformia and a sister taxon of the Felidae.
Prionodon was denominated and first described by Thomas Horsfield in 1822, based on a linsang from Java. He placed the genus under Prionodontidae, because of similarities to both genera Viverra and Felis. In 1864, John Edward Gray nominated the subfamily Prionodontinae, to which he subordinated the genera Prionodon and Poiana.Reginald Innes Pocock initially followed Gray’s classification, but the existence of scent glands in Poiana induced him provisionally to regard the latter as a specialized form of Genetta, its likeness to Prionodon being possibly adaptive.
DNA analysis based on 29 species of Carnivora, comprising 13 species of Viverrinae and three species representing Paradoxurus, Paguma and Hemigalinae, confirmed Pocock's assumption that the African linsang Poiana represents the sister-group of the genus Genetta. The placement of Prionodon as the sister-group of the family Felidae is strongly supported, and it was proposed that the Asiatic linsangs be placed in the monogeneric family Prionodontidae.
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