杜瑞尔獴

杜瑞尔獴（学名："Salanoia durrelli"）是一种分布于马达加斯加的哺乳动物，分类学上属于食肉目食蚁狸科，和纯色獴共同组成了纯色獴属。杜瑞尔獴和纯色獴基因上很相似，但是形态上有所区别，因此科学家将其归为不同物种。2004年，科学家观测到杜瑞尔獴的个体，后于2010年将其命名为杜瑞尔獴。杜瑞尔獴仅出现于阿劳特拉湖区域。
In the holotype specimen, a female, the head and body length was , the tail length was , the hindfoot length was , the ear length was , and the body mass was . In another specimen, a male which was captured and released, the head and body length was about , the tail length was about , and the body mass was . Based on these limited data, "S. durrelli" may be slightly smaller than the brown-tailed mongoose.
The skull generally resembles that of the brown-tailed mongoose, but the rostrum (front part) is broad and deep, the nasal bones are broad and short, and the region of the palate is broad. The mandible (lower jaw) is robust and shows a high, steeply rising coronoid process (a projection at the back of the bone). Statistical analysis of measurements of the skulls and teeth strongly separates "S. durrelli" from specimens of the brown-tailed mongoose.
"Salanoia durrelli" has a more robust dentition than the brown-tailed mongoose; the teeth have larger surface areas. The first and second upper incisors are smaller than the third, which is separated by a pronounced diastema (gap) from the canine tooth. The canine is more robust than in the brown-tailed mongoose. The first upper premolar is small, but the second and third are larger; these two teeth are shorter and broader than in the brown-tailed mongoose. The fourth premolar is large, as is the first molar. The second upper molar is less than one-third the size of the first, and is more highly reduced than that of the brown-tailed mongoose, which is about two-thirds the size of the first molar. The first lower incisor is smaller than the other two. The lower canine, premolars, and first molar are well-developed. The second molar is broad, but smaller than in the brown-tailed mongoose.
Distribution, habitat, and behavior.
"Salanoia durrelli" has been recorded at Andreba, a marshy area at above sea level on the eastern coast of Lac Alaotra. The nearest occurrence of the brown-tailed mongoose is about from Alaotra. The first observed specimen was swimming; it may have fled from human activity on the shore. The two others were caught on mats of floating vegetation. Thus, "S. durrelli" occurs in a marsh habitat—quite different from the forest-dwelling brown-tailed mongoose. "S. durrelli" may use its robust dentition to feed on prey with hard parts, such as crustaceans and molluscs, in addition to small vertebrates, rather than the insects that the more gracile-toothed brown-tailed mongoose eats. Indeed, the two specimens of "S. durrelli" were captured using traps baited with fish and meat. "S. durrelli" is similar in many respects to the larger mainland African marsh mongoose ("Atilax paludinosa"), a carnivorous wetland-dweller that also uses mats of vegetation to eat and sleep on.
Conservation status.
The unique habitat of Lac Alaotra is threatened by pollution, destruction of marshes for the construction of rice fields, overfishing, and introduced species such as exotic fish, plants, the black rat ("Rattus rattus"), and the small Indian civet ("Viverricula indica"), another small carnivoran. A bird restricted to the area, the Alaotra grebe ("Tachybaptus rufolavatus"), was declared extinct in 2010 and the population of the bamboo lemur fell by about 30% from 1994 to 1999. As a narrowly distributed species with a small population, "S. durrelli" is likely to be threatened by degradation of its habitat and perhaps competition with the small Indian civet and the black rat, but its conservation status has not yet been formally assessed. The DWCT is working to conserve the Lac Alaotra area and the region has been designated as a protected area.