''Atilax mesotes'' is an extinct species of

mongoose A mongoose is a small terrestrial carnivorous mammal belonging to the family Herpestidae. This family is currently split into two subfamilies, the Herpestinae and the Mungotinae. The Herpestinae comprises 23 living species that are native to so ...

that lived in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

during the Early Pleistocene around 1.98 million years ago. Remains of this species were first found in the Kromdraai and included a complete skull and mandible. More material has been found at other places, such as the Malapa Fossil Site, all in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It was originally described as ''Herpestes mesotes'' but was found to have many cranial features in common with the extant

marsh mongoose The marsh mongoose (''Atilax paludinosus''), also known as the water mongoose or the vansire, is a medium-sized mongoose native to sub-Saharan Africa that inhabits foremost freshwater wetlands. It has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red L ...

, and may represent an ancestral form of the latter species that branched off from the ''Herpestes'' evolutionary line. The presence of ''Atilax mesotes'' at Malapa indicate the presence of water at the vicinity. ''Atilax mesotes'' was a rather large species, comparable to the

Egyptian mongoose The Egyptian mongoose (''Herpestes ichneumon''), also known as ichneumon (), is a mongoose species native to the coastal regions along the Mediterranean Sea between North Africa and Turkey, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannas, and shrub ...

''(Herpestes ichneumon)'' in size based on its cranial measurements. It differs in its more robust cheek teeth, less reduced second molars and shorter palate behind the last molars.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q108422375 Mongooses Pleistocene mammals of Africa Prehistoric carnivorans