The flat-headed kusimanse (''Crossarchus platycephalus'') is a

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 ...

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

n rainforests. It is listed as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

since 2008.

Distribution

The species is native to central Africa extends from southern Benin and southern Nigeria via Cameroon to the Central African Republic and the northwest of the Republic of the Congo.

Description

The species is very similar to the dark kusimanse, but differ in skull. Flat-headed kusimanse has a mane of the neck. Head to body length is 30 to 36 cm, the tail measures 16 to 21 cm. Male is slightly larger than female and the weigh about 1.5 kg. Female weighs about 0.5 kg. Body is slender and elongated with a relatively short tail and legs. There are five toes in front and rear paws with the front paws have strong claws. The dark, shaggy fur is dark brown or black in color. Dental formula is I 3/3 - C 1 / 1- P 3 / 3- M 2/2.

Ecology

Habitat is mainly the undergrowth of tropical rainforests and riparian forests. Very common in human habitations such as fields in the Niger Delta. It can be easily tamed where it is a cooperative with humans. Very little is known about their way of life. They are probably diurnal and live in groups that roam around their territory without a fixed structure. They look for food, invertebrates and small vertebrates, on the forest floor or in rotted tree trunks.

References

flat-headed kusimanse The flat-headed kusimanse (''Crossarchus platycephalus'') is a mongoose species endemic to West African rainforests. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Thr ...

Mammals of West Africa Mammals of Cameroon

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