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Last updated on June 19, 2013 at 21:21 EDT

African Palm Civet

The African Palm Civet (Nandinia binotata), also known as the Two-spotted Palm Civet, is a small mammal. It has short legs, small ears, a body resembling a cat, and a long tail as long as its body. Adults usually weigh 3.75 to 4.63 lb (1.70 to 2.10 kg). They are native to the forests of eastern Africa, where they usually inhabit trees. Their diet is omnivorous. Their diet includes rodents, insects, eggs, carrion, fruit, birds and fruit bats. The animals are generally solitary, and are active at night.

Although they physically resemble other civets it has been suggested that the African Palm Civets are genetically distinct, and diverge before cats from other civets. However this suggestion is not universally accepted, although they are classified as the only species in genus Nandinia and in their own family, Nandiniidae.

African Palm Civet