Belongs within: Carnivora.
Contains: Felidae, Hyaenidae, Herpestidae, Viverrinae.
The Aeluroidea are the crown group of the feliform (‘cat-line’) carnivorans. As well as the cats themselves, they also include such animals as hyaenas, mongooses and civets. Recent studies agree that the ‘Viverridae’ as recognised in the past are poly- or paraphyletic, with the African palm civet Nandinia binotata the sister taxon to other living aeluroids. The Asiatic linsangs of the genus Prionodon, small, long-bodied carnivorans patterned with large spots often coalescing into bands, are now placed as the sister group to cats in the Felidae.
Characters (from Flynn et al. 1988): Auditory bulla double-chambered, divided by bilaminar septum; paroccipital process short, broadened, cupping caudal ectotympanic; posterior opening of carotid canal farther anterior to posterior lacerate foramen; postglenoid foramen absent; alisphenoid canal absent; baculum small or absent; P4 with large parastyle and deep, narrow carnassial notch; third upper and lower molars lost; M2 reduced, simple; M2 with talonid extremely elongate, hypoconulid larger than or equal to hypoconid.
<==Aeluroidea [Feloidea]FNT88 |--Nandinia [Nandiniidae, Nandiniinae]FS15 | `--N. binotataFS15 `--+--+--+--FelidaeFS15 | | `--Stenogale Schlosser 1887MJ11, SM93 | | `--S. julieniMJ11 | `--+--Palaeoprionodon Filhol 1880MJ11, SM93 | `--Prionodon Horsfield 1822C84 [PrionodontidaeFS15] | |--P. gracilis [=Linsang gracilis]W42 | |--P. linsangFS15 | `--P. pardicolorFS15 `--+--HerpestoideaMJ11 | |--HyaenidaeFS15 | `--+--HerpestidaeFS15 | `--EupleridaeFS15 | |--+--Fossa [Fossinae]FS15 | | | `--F. fossanaFS15 | | `--Eupleres [Euplerinae]FS15 | | `--E. goudotiiFS15 | | |--E. g. goudotiiBP87 | | `--E. g. majorBP87 | `--+--Cryptoprocta [Cryptoproctidae, Cryptoproctinae]FS15 | | |--C. feroxFS15 | | `--C. spelea Lamberton 1939S78 | `--GalidiinaeRW84 | |--Galidia elegansFS15 | `--+--+--Salanoia concolorFS15 | | `--Mungotictis decemlineataFS15 | `--GalidictisFS15 | |--G. fasciataFS15 | |--G. grandidieriFS15 | `--G. striataS66 `--ViverridaeFS15 | i. s.: Hemigalea Blainville 1837C84 | Stenoplesictis Filhol 1880SM93 | `--S. cayluxi Fischer 1983F91 |--ViverrinaeFS15 `--+--ParadoxurinaeWW84 | |--Arctogalidia trivirgataFS15 | `--+--Arctictis binturongFS15 | `--+--Paguma larvata Hamilton-Smith 1827FS15, M76 | `--+--Macrogalidia musschenbroekiiFS15 | `--ParadoxurusFS15 | | i. s.: ‘Bassaris’ astutaC41 | | P. binotatusG41 | | P. bondarG41 | | P. derbianus [incl. Viverra boiei, Hemigalea zebra, Paradoxurus zebra]W42 | | P. leucomystaxG41 | |--P. hermaphroditus (Pallas 1777)FS15, K92 | `--+--P. jerdoniFS15 | `--P. zeylonensisFS15 `--HemigalinaeWW84 |--CynogaleFS15 | |--C. bennettiiFS15 | `--C. loweiWW84 `--+--Chrotogale owstoniiFS15 `--+--Diplogale hoseiFS15 `--Hemigalus Jourdan 1837FS15, C84 |--H. derbyanusFS15 |--H. hardwickeiB46 `--H. hoseiWW84
*Type species of generic name indicated
References
[BP87] Burton, J. A., & B. Pearson. 1987. Collins Guide to the Rare Mammals of the World. Collins: London.
[B46] Butler, P. M. 1946. The evolution of carnassial dentitions in the Mammalia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 116: 198–220.
[C41] Charlesworth, E. 1841. On the habits of the Bassaris astuta, Lichtenstein; and of the Ascomys mexicanus of the same author. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 9: 60.
[C84] Compagno, L. J. V. 1984. FAO Species Catalogue vol. 4. Sharks of the World: An annotated and illustrated catalogue of shark species known to date. Part 2—Carcharhiniformes. United Nations Development Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Rome.
[FS15] Faurby, S., & J.-C. Svenning. 2015. A species-level phylogeny of all extant and late Quaternary extinct mammals using a novel heuristic-hierarchical Bayesian approach. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 84: 14–26.
[FNT88] Flynn, J. J., N. A. Neff & R. H. Tedford. 1988. Phylogeny of the Carnivora. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Phylogeny and Classification of the Tetrapods vol. 2. Mammals pp. 73–116. Clarendon Press: Oxford.
[F91] Freess, W. B. 1991. Beiträge zur Kenntnis von Fauna und Flora des marinen Mitteloligozäns bei Leipzig. Altenburger Naturwissenschaftliche Forschungen 6: 3–74.
[G41] Gulliver, G. 1841. Observations on the blood-corpuscles of the order Ferae. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 9: 42–44.
[K92] Klompen, J. S. H. 1992. Phylogenetic relationships in the mite family Sarcoptidae (Acari: Astigmata). Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 180: i–vi, 1–154.
[M76] Masui, M. 1976. Nihon no Doobutsu. Kogakukan: Tokyo.
[MJ11] Meredith, R. W., J. E. Janečka, J. Gatesy, O. A. Ryder, C. A. Fisher, E. C. Teeling, A. Goodbla, E. Eizirik, T. L. L. Simão, T. Stadler, D. L. Rabosky, R. L. Honeycutt, J. J. Flynn, C. M. Ingram, C. Steiner, T. L. Williams, T. J. Robinson, A. Burk-Herrick, M. Westerman, N. A. Ayoub, M. S. Springer & W. J. Murphy. 2011. Impacts of the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution and KPg extinction on mammal diversification. Science 334: 521–524.
[RW84] Rood, J., & W. C. Wozencraft. 1984. Mongooses. In: Macdonald, D. (ed.) All the World’s Animals: Carnivores pp. 138–145. Torstar Books Inc.: New York.
[S78] Savage, R. J. G. 1978. Carnivora. In: Maglio, V. J., & H. B. S. Cooke (eds) Evolution of African Mammals pp. 249–267. Harvard University Press: Cambridge (Massachusetts).
[S66] Schlegel, H. 1866. Communication from, on mammals and birds collected in Madagascar. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1866: 419–426.
[SM93] Stucky, R. K., & M. C. McKenna. 1993. Mammalia. In: Benton, M. J. (ed.) The Fossil Record 2 pp. 739–771. Chapman & Hall: London.
[W42] Waterhouse, G. R. 1842. Observations of some species of Mammalia from Borneo. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 10: 114–116.
[WW84] Wemmer, C., & W. C. Wozencraft. 1984. Civets and genets. In: Macdonald, D. (ed.) All the World’s Animals: Carnivores pp. 128–137. Torstar Books Inc.: New York.