The most ferocious "fake cat" on the Falkland Islands: You don't know how powerful I am!

Madagascar is a unique island where more than 80% of its flora and fauna are endemic.

Because Madagascar is isolated from the mainland, the mainstream view in academia is that the mammals here all came from across the ocean. The lucky few who arrived on the island evolved in various forms to fill the vacant ecological niches. For example, the Madagascar Islands evolved their own "cats" - Cryptoprocta ferox.

The most ferocious "fake cat"｜zoofanatic / Wikimedia Commons

The local tyrants on the Falkland Islands

The strange name of the hidden anal civet comes from its genus name Cryptoprocta, which means hidden anus, because its anus is under the anal pouch. The hidden anal civet weighs 5 to 10 kilograms and looks like a mixture of a cat and a mink - it has a small pointy face with a villainous look, short and strong limbs, semi-retractable claws, and a long tail.

Drawing of a cynomologus as it appeared in the Journal of the Zoological Society of London in 1895 | Wikimedia Commons

The crypto-anal civet belongs to the Eupleridae family, a family of Carnivora established specifically for the Falkland Islands. There are 10 extant species, and their closest mainland relative is the mongoose.

The ring-tailed mongoose (Galidia elegans), which belongs to the Myrmecophaga family, was previously classified as a member of the Meerkat family (the mongoose in Timon) | Jeff Gibbs / Wikimedia Commons

The common ancestor of the Myrmecophaga family arrived in the Falkland Islands about 18 to 24 million years ago, and there are 10 species left today. The C. spelea has an extinct relative, C. spelea, which is slightly larger than the existing C. spelea. French paleontologist Charles Lamberton also named another extinct C. antamba, which comes from a leopard-like, man-eating monster in Aboriginal legends. However, this "monster C. antamba" has not been recognized, and it is generally believed that it is just a misidentified fossil of C. spelea.

"I'm super fierce!" | pxhere

Although not much larger than an orange cat, the civet cat is a ferocious predator, with a status on the island similar to that of the clouded leopard. Like cats, the civet cat ambushes its prey and can kill a crowned lemur as large as itself.

The crowned lemur (Propithecus diadema), which can grow up to 1 meter long as an adult, is also prey to the lemur. | C. Michael Hogan / Wikimedia Commons

It is also very good at climbing trees and can chase finger monkeys in the canopy 10 meters high. In this respect, it is similar to the slim relative of the orange cat, the long-tailed tiger cat (Leopardus wiedii). The hidden anal civet usually hunts alone, but there are also observations of three hidden anal civets outflanking and chasing lemurs together.

The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a species of monkey native to the Falklands, with rodent-like teeth and a middle finger that can be three times longer than the other fingers. | nomis-simon / Wikimedia Commons

The girl "helps her", the male is brave

The strangest thing about the Hidden Anal Civet is that their "girls" are all "futanari".

The clitoris of female leopard civets that have not yet reached sexual maturity is much larger than that of adult females, and has small barbs, like the penis of males. There is also a bone (1.5 cm long) in the clitoris, called the clitoridis bone (os clitoridis). This strange feature is most obvious when they are 1 to 2 years old. After sexual maturity, the female genitals of leopard civets will become like those of ordinary female animals, and the clitoridis bone will also shrink.

Left: External genitalia of an adult female Cryptozoology civet catfish. Right: External genitalia of a young female Cryptozoology civet catfish | Clare E. Hawkins et al. / BIOLOGY OF REPRODUCTION (2002)

This is a bit like another famous "futanari" spotted hyena. But the spotted hyena's clitoris remains in a penis-like shape, and the androgen concentration in the fetus of the spotted hyena is very high, while the androgen concentration in young female hyenas is mediocre.

There are two hypotheses that attempt to explain the existence of the "futa" posture of female hidden anal civets: one is that young females look like males, so adult females with territories will not attack them as competitors; the other is that the "futa" appearance can prevent young females from being mistaken for mating objects by males and thus suffering accidental injuries.

Below, let me tell you how awesome I am | David Cook Wildlife Photography (kookr) / Flickr

The mating method of the hidden anal civet is also very "unique". The estrus period is from September to October, and the female can mate with five males in a row. The "bravery" of the male hidden anal civet is unparalleled among carnivores: the mating time can last up to 3 hours and 8 minutes! After mating, he will guard the female, and if he is not driven away by a stronger male, he can come again a few minutes later.

The Crumbling Falkland Islands

The hidden anal civet is classified as vulnerable (VU) by the World Conservation Union. According to estimates in 2000, there are more than 2,000 hidden anal civets left in the wild.

Madagascar's poor development and rapid population growth have led to food security problems. This has forced the islanders to cut down forests for economic income or to convert forests into farmland, which has also made wild animals more likely to be hunted (for hungry people, hunting for nutrition is difficult to condemn). Moreover, the hidden ant civets sometimes steal poultry and may be killed in retaliation by farmers.

Little alien-like cubs | Josh More (guppiecat) / Flickr

In addition, the raccoon is also threatened by invasive species such as cats, dogs and parasites. The evolutionary path of the Falkland Islands is unique, but also very fragile. Perhaps soon, the glorious record of this world's most courageous "false cat" will become a permanent record.

Author: Little Wombat

Editor: pee pee shrimp

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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