Urva (genus)
Genus of mongooses / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Urva is a genus comprising the Asian mongooses within the mongoose family Herpestidae. Species in the genus were formerly classified in the genus Herpestes, which is now thought to comprise exclusively African mongooses; phylogenetic evidence indicates that the Asian mongooses form a monophyletic group and had an Asian common ancestor. Urva forms a clade with Xenogale and Atilax, while Herpestes forms a clade with all other African mongoose species.[1][2]
Urva | |
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Indian grey mongoose | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Feliformia |
Family: | Herpestidae |
Subfamily: | Herpestinae |
Genus: | Urva Hodgson, 1837 |
Type species | |
Gulo urva Hodgson, 1836 | |
Species | |
See table and range map | |
Native distribution of Urva species
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An Urva fossil specimen, an upper molar tooth, was excavated in the Ayeyarwady River valley in central Myanmar and is estimated to date to the late Pliocene.[3]
The scientific name Urva was coined by Brian Houghton Hodgson as the specific name of crab-eating mongoose in 1836,[4] and as the generic name in the following year.[5] Urva species have a wide distribution spanning from the Arabian Peninsula to the Indonesian island of Java.[6] The small Indian mongoose (U. auropunctata) has been introduced to several islands in the late 19th century, where it has become an invasive species.[7][8]