Viverridae
| Viverridae Temporal range: 34–0 Ma Eocene to Recent |
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| Viverrids, including (top left to bottom right), species of Paradoxurus, Genetta, Paguma and Arctictis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: |
Viverridae Gray, 1821 |
| Subfamilies | |
Hemigalinae
Paradoxurinae
Prionodontinae
Viverrinae
Viverridae is a family of small to medium-sized mammals, the viverrids (/vaɪˈvɛrɪdz/), comprising 15 genera, which are subdivided into 38 species. This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821. Members of this family are commonly called civets or genets. Viverrids are found in South and Southeast Asia, across the Wallace Line, all over Africa, and into southern Europe. Their occurrence in Sulawesi and in some of the adjoining islands shows them to be ancient inhabitants of the Old World tropics.
Viverrids have four or five toes on each foot and half-retractile claws. They have six cutting teeth in each jaw and true grinders with two tubercular grinders behind in the upper jaw, and one in the lower jaw. The tongue is rough with sharp prickles. A pouch or gland occurs beneath the anus, but there is no coecum.
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