I figure this is in topic because a lot of people, even people who own
ferrets, get mongooses and mustelids mixed up.Of course, most people
still think skunks are mustelids (they're now their own carnivore family,
Mephitidae), so I can't fault them for not being on the cutting edge of
taxonomy :D
 
I just wanted to make some statements about Herpestidae, mongooses
specifically, and general Viverridae, genets and civits, on why they're
so weasely, though I'm sure it's obvious to some.  Originally, mongooses
were Viverridae, but they're so different, with different general shapes
to the head, pupils of the eyes, teeth, general size and colouration and
placement of scent glands, that they were moved into their own group by
taxonomists with nothing better else to do with their time :).  In
Africa, of example, there's almost no mustelids(comparativly speaking),
so mongooses fill many of the nieches a mustelid would, and that's the
area in the world where mongoose are most common.  They have less
specialized carnivore jaws compared to our pet ferrets,essientially a
modified carnivore/insectivore jaw, and insects make a major part many of
the species diets in a way they don't do with most mustelids(I'd say all,
but I'm not 100% sure on the Eurasian Badger).  Viverridae, on the other
hand, look much more like a mix between foxes and cats, but have the
advantage over both of them in that they're generally omnivorous, in
spite of being 'carnivores' in the general sence.  Sort of like the
cacomistles or ring tailed cats in North and Central America.  There's
still some mustelid nieche overlaping, with otterlike civits and
badgerlike civits.
 
Mustelids, as we all know, are obligate carnivores, with much less
tendancy to eating vegetation than civits or insect than mongooses.
Of course, this can be a bit of a limiter, but our favorite critters
are nothing if not adaptable.
 
In short, Viverridae and Herpestidae often look like mustelids (or cats,
or foxes, or raccoons) because they're doing similar things and going
similar places that mustelids often do in an area where mustelids aren't
doing that at the moment, or at least not as well.
 
Whew!
 
Of course, I'm no biology whiz, so errors were probably made, but I think
that's the jist of it.
 
Melissa Smith
http://www.cafepress.com/ferrettoons
[Posted in FML issue 4087]