Grandidier's mongoose (''Galidictis grandidieri''), also known as the giant-striped mongoose or Grandidier's vontsira, is a small

carnivora Carnivora is a Clade, monophyletic order of Placentalia, placental mammals consisting of the most recent common ancestor of all felidae, cat-like and canidae, dog-like animals, and all descendants of that ancestor. Members of this group are f ...

n that lives only in a very small area of southwestern

Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...

, in areas of spiny forest vegetation. It is pale brown or grayish coloured, with eight wide, dark stripes on its back and sides. Grandidier's mongoose is larger than the related

broad-striped Malagasy mongoose The broad-striped Malagasy mongoose or broad-striped vontsira (''Galidictis fasciata'') is a species of Galidiinae, a subfamily of mongoose-like euplerids native to Madagascar. The species contains two known subspecies: ''Galidictis fasciata fas ...

, ''G. fasciata'', and its stripes are not as wide. The species is named after

Alfred Grandidier Alfred Grandidier (20 December 1836 – 13 September 1921) was a French naturalist and explorer. From a very wealthy family, at the age of 20, he and his brother, Ernest Grandidier (1833–1912), undertook a voyage around the world. At first ...

. This species has been called one of the least-studied carnivorans in the world. With a few exceptions, the majority of records of ''G. grandidieri'' come from a narrow zone at the western edge of the Mahafaly Plateau in the Parc National de

Tsimanampetsotsa Lake Tsimanampetsotsa (french: Lac Tsimanampetsotsa) (also called Lake Tsimanampesotse) is a moderately alkaline lake in the Toliara Province, in the southwestern part of Madagascar. It is located at around . The lake is protected within Tsimana ...

, making it the Madagascan carnivore with the smallest range.

Nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

and

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...

, this species lives in pairs which produce one offspring a year, in the summer. They hunt primarily by searching through ground litter and in rock crevices. The diet of Grandidier's mongoose varies markedly between the dry and wet seasons. Whereas food consists mainly of invertebrates throughout the year, small vertebrates are the most important food by biomass, comprising 58% during the dry season and 80% during the wet season. Grandidier's mongoose weighs 1.1 to 1.3 lb (500 to 600 g).R. Andriatsimietry et al. (2009): Seasonal variation in the diet of ''Galidictis grandidieri'' Wozencraft, 1986 (Carnivora: Eupleridae) in a sub-arid zone of extreme south-western Madagascar. ''Journal of Zoology'' 279 (4):410-415. The species is

sympatric In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...

with two other carnivores, the fossa (''

Cryptoprocta ferox ''Cryptoprocta'' is a genus of carnivoran endemic to Madagascar. It contains the living Fossa (animal), fossa and its larger, recently extinct relative, the giant fossa. The fossas are the largest of Madagascar's mammalian carnivores. References< ...

'') and the introduced Indian civet (''

Viverricula indica The small Indian civet (''Viverricula indica'') is a civet native to South and Southeast Asia. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of its widespread distribution, widespread habitat use and healthy populations living in ag ...

''). However, there seems to be virtually no range or dietary overlap between these animals and Grandidier's mongoose. From sub-fossil evidence, it is clear that the region underwent drastic climatic change during the last 3000–2000 years. It is presumed that the distribution of this mongoose was notably broader and the proportion of prey types different in earlier times than today. Grandidier's mongoose must have adapted to dryer conditions, which have resulted in its very limited distribution and the exploitation of notably small prey. The animals can be vocal, with a cooing mew, and are described as sociable and playful.BBC, ''Island of Marvels,'' Part 3. Baby mongoose.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q912339 Mammals of Madagascar Endemic fauna of Madagascar Euplerids Carnivorans of Africa Mammals described in 1986