Genetta abyssinica
Genetta abyssinica (Rüppel, 1836)
Common name: Abyssinian genet.
Synonyms: none.
Distribution: Djibouti (A. Laurent, Toulouse, pers. comm. 2001), Erytrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan.
Habitat: from high Ethiopian plateaux (montane moorland and grassland) to steppe and sub-desert areas in plains.
Sympatric species: G. genetta, G. maculata.
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Teeth
- General aspect of the dentition : normal
- m2 : developed (similar to size of m1 talonid)
- M2 : present, well developed
- Flattening of the anterior region of the mandible : absent
- m1 talonid : developed (hypoconulid, entoconid and hypoconid present)
- P3 lingual cusp : absent or extremely reduced
Body proportion
Pads
Teats
Hair ultrastructure
- Cortex of dorsal guard hair (spatula) : thin (< 1/3 medulla width)
- Cross section shape of dorsal guard hair (base of spatula) : oblong
- Margin of the scales located in the middle of the spatula of dorsal guard hair : crenelated
- Shape of the scales located between the base and the middle of dorsal guard hair : triangular
Coat
- Pair of wide median nuchal stripes : absent
- Coat of hindfoot : same as ground coloration
- Coat of upper leg : same as ground coloration
- Coat of inner upper leg : same as ground coloration
- Spots on upper leg : not merged
- Coat of forefoot : same as ground coloration
- Coat of upper arm : same as ground coloration
- Mid-dorsal crest : absent (similar length than adjacent dorsal hairs)
- Length of hairs on tail : short (from 20 to 30 mm)
- Tip of the tail : dark
- Chin : inferior chops uniformly bright
- Sagital (nuchal) crest : absent
- Rings on tail : present
- Dorsal spots : present
- Number of bright rings on tail (not included, if present: i) short, distal bright ring, and ii) last bright ring covered with dark) : seven ; eight
- Relative width of the bright rings over the dark rings (middle of tail, dorsal view) : ca. 100 %
- Shape of the first dark rings of the tail : circle
- Distal part of the tail : alternation of dark and bright rings
- "Dirty"stripe longitudinally crossing the rings of the upper part of the tail : hardly visible
- Mid-dorsal line : present
- Longitudinal coalescence of the first row of dorsal spots (contiguous to mid-dorsal line) : complete, forming a continuous stripe on the whole back
- Density of distribution of dorsal spots : low
- Mid-dorsal line, pattern : continuous stripe
- Mid-dorsal line, coloration : longitudinally crossed by a brighter (ground coloration) line
Skull
- Maxillary-palatine suture position in relation to main cusp of P3 : forward
- Premaxillary-maxillary suture position in relation to cusp of P1 : at the same level
- Ventral inflation of the caudal entotympanic bone (ceb) : weak (similar level of inflation with ectotympanic bone)
- Staphylinal fissure : V-shaped
- Interorbital constriction : strong (inferior to 1 - 0.12) ; intermediate (equal to 1 +/- 0.12) ; weak (superior to 1 + 0.12)
- Posterior extension of the frontal bones, from post-orbital process to post-orbital constriction : moderated, overlapping ca. 50 % of the dorsal part of the interorbital constriction
- Premaxillary-frontal contact : absent
- Shape of crest of insertion of temporal muscles (upper part of the parietal) : very narrow, elevated