Genetta abyssinica
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2009
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Carnivora
Viverridae
Genetta
Genetta abyssinica

description: 9.
Abyssinian Genet
Genetta abyssinica
French: Genette d'Ethiopie / German: Athiopien-Genette / Spanish: Gineta abisinia
Other common name: Ethiopian Genet
Taxonomy. Viverra abyssinica Ruppell, 1835,
Gondar, Ethiopia.
Was previously placed in the subgenus Pseudogenetta with the Hausa Genet (G. thierryi). Monotypic.
Distribution. Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan.
Descriptive notes. Head-body 40.8-43 cm, tail 38-40. 3 cm; weight 1.3-2 kg. A small genet with short legs and a moderately long tail. The pelage is soft, with short straight hair. The coat color varies from pale creamy-gray to yellow; the underparts are pale gray. Two distinct color forms have been reported: pale (in the lowlands) and dark (in the highlands). The forehead is gray, with a thin dark vertical line on the muzzle. The dark facial mask is well marked and there are pairs of supraand sub-ocular white spots. The nuchal stripes are well defined; the spots on the side of the neck merge into two dark lines. The dark mid-dorsalline is split longitudinally by a pale line of hairs; there is no dorsal crest. The dorsal spots are fused into five longitudinal black stripes. The spots on the lower flanks are also elongated and look more like stripes than spots. The tail has seven to nine pale rings, alternating with dark rings; the tip of the tail is dark. The foreand hindlimbs are pale gray with dark spots, the feet are pale gray and unspotted. The central depression of the sole of the foot is hairless. The skull is small. The premaxillary-frontal contact is absent. The posterior chamber of the auditory bulla is not ventrally inflated and has a continuous curve line on the external side. Dental formula: 13/3, C1/1,P 4/4, M 2/2 = 40. The maxillary-palatine suture is anterior to the main cusp of P°.
Habitat. Montane dry forest (dominant vegetation includes tree heath Erica arborea, curry bush Hypericum revolutum and Abyssinian rose Rosa abyssinica), montane heather moorland, Afro-alpine grassland, and steppe and sub-desert areas on lowland plains. Found up to 3750 m.
Food and Feeding. Appears to be predominately carnivorous. In the Ethiopian highlands, the analysis of 25 scats showed that small vertebrates (mostly rodents) were the main prey items, with smaller quantities of insects and fruit. Compositional differences between habitats were found, suggesting opportunistic consumption of the most available food sources. In the Afro-alpine areas, 15 scats consisted mainly of rodents (Arvicanthis and Lophuromys genera), with small quantities of birds (passerines), insects (Coleoptera), and fruit. In a savannah-woodland area, ten scats revealed that rodents and birds were also the main prey items, but more insects and fruit were consumed than at the higher altitude.
Activity patterns. Believed to be mainly nocturnal; one individual was seen at 18:10 h. However, some observations of diurnal activity have been reported: sightings at 13:10 h, 14:30 h and 16:00 h were recorded in the Ethiopian Highlands. It has been suggested that this diurnal activity is a local adaptive response to the activity patterns of rodent prey at high altitudes, and that this might also minimize direct competition with African Wildcats.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Possibly solitary: the few reported sightings have been of single individuals. Latrine sites were found in Afro-alpine and montane savannah-woodland complexes (an average of 30 droppings was found in each). One latrine was found on a rocky ledge at 3750 m, in an area covered by highgrass steppe, scattered giant lobelias, and globe thistle. Two were found within an Afroalpine area at 3680 m; they were in rocky holes at the base of an escarpment, in an area of steep slopes, medium to high-grass steppe, and scattered lobelias. Another latrine was found on a rocky ledge in dry massif at 2150 m, in an open shrubby-grassy area, dominated by several acacia species.
Breeding. Nothing known.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Listed as Threatened in the 1989 IUCN Action Plan for the Conservation ofMustelids and Viverrids. Known from fewer than 20 museum specimens and a handful of sightings. Considered rare and is likely to be threatened by habitat loss due to agriculture and livestock pressures. There is a need for further fieldwork to better understand its habitat requirements, population status, and ecology.
Bibliography. Crawford-Cabral (1981), Diaz & Van Rompaey (2002), Gaubert (In press b), Gaubert, Taylor & Veron (2005), Gaubert, Veron & Tranier (2002), Schreiber et al. (1989), Wozencraft (2005), Yalden et al. (1996).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2009, Viverridae, pp. 174-232 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 1 Carnivores, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on pages 182-183, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5714564