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Spotted linsang Prionodon pardicolor Hodgson, 1841

Distribution

It is distributed from east of Nepal to Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh (Pocock 1939, Choudhury 1997a,b, 1999, Datta 1999, Jha 1999) eastwards to Myanmar, southern China, Thailand, Laos PDR, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Borneo (Pocock 1939, Medway 1978, Corbet & Hill 1992).

Description

The spotted linsang is the smallest of all the civets, weighing less than a kilogram. It has a pointed muzzle, elongated body, short limbs and retractile claws. The tail is nearly as long as the head and body. The general coat colour is brownish on the dorsal surface and nape, which gradually merge with paler buffy-olivaceous flanks, to bright, almost orange buff. There are distinct dark patches on the body. Dorsally there are two rows of smaller spots on the spine (nuchal stripes) extending from the occiput to the shoulders coalescing at the posterior end to form a single stripe. There are three or four longitudinal rows of small spots on the sides, extending from the back and lower down to the flanks, shoulders and thighs. The spots decrease in size from dorsal to the ventral surface. The fore legs are spotted to the paws and the hind legs up to the hock. The tail has eight or nine complete broad dark rings separated by narrow white rings. Head and body length varies between 305 and 452 mm, tail length 302 to 402 mm and weight ranges between 598 and 798 gm. The absence of sex glands in both sexes is also distinctive.

Behaviour

It mostly inhabits thick hill forests ranging from 150 m to 1850 m. It has also been recorded from fringe habitats around human settlements within forests. It is nocturnal, mostly arboreal and is an efficient hunter. Its diet includes squirrels, rodents, small birds, lizards and insects. It lives in hollows of trees, by building nests with leaves and twigs. In one instance it was found in a burrow at the base of a palm tree (Pocock 1941). Breeding time is February and again in August. The litter size is between two to three.

Conservation status

It is listed in Schedule I part I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Appendix II of CITES, and VU B2 2ac during the CAMP Workshop.

| Introduction | Mustelids | Viverrids | Herpestids | 
| Conservation Significance | References |