''Viverra leakeyi'', also known as Leakey's civet or the giant civet, is an extinct species of civet. Its fossils have been found in Africa, from Langebaanweg, Ethiopia, Tanzania, and the Omo Valley.Brands, S.J. (comp.) 1989-present. The Taxonomicon. Universal Taxonomic Services, Zwaag, The Netherlands. Accessed March 7th 2014.

Description

Being the largest viverrid currently known to ever exist, it grew to about the size of a small

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, a ...

, around and high at the shoulder. ''V. leakeyi'' looked physically similar to living Asiatic civet species but is thought to be more closely related to the African ''

Civettictis civetta The African civet (''Civettictis civetta'') is a large viverrid native to sub-Saharan Africa, where it is considered common and widely distributed in woodlands and secondary forests. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List since 2008 ...

'' due to their location.Turner, Alan. National Geographic prehistoric mammals. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2004. Print.

Diet and behavior

This civet's

dentition Dentition pertains to the development of teeth and their arrangement in the mouth. In particular, it is the characteristic arrangement, kind, and number of teeth in a given species at a given age. That is, the number, type, and morpho-physiolo ...

indicates it more than likely was strictly

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose food and energy requirements derive from animal tissues (mainly muscle, fat and other sof ...

, in comparison, living civet species are observed to be omnivorous instead. Because of ''V. leakeyis size and dentition, the living animal is thought to be an active predator.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1647846 Viverrids Miocene mammals of Africa Pliocene mammals of Africa Pleistocene mammals of Africa Miocene carnivorans Fossil taxa described in 1982