The native fauna of Madagascar bears very little resemblance
to that of the neighbouring continent of Africa, due to the separation event
that occurred around 160 million years ago. A lot of divergent evolution has happened
since then!
The fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox) is an animal that occupies
the “big cat” niche in Madagascar’s fauna, although it belongs to a more
primitive family of animals that includes civets, genets and mongooses.
Like a big cat, the fossa is lithe and agile and hunts by
stalking and pouncing on its prey. It is muscular, powerful and an excellent
climber.
An adult fossa measures 23-30 inches (60-75 cms) in length and
stands 22-28 inches (55-70 cms) tall. It weighs 21-31 pounds (9.5-14 kgs).
Fossas are solitary animals that hunt by day or night. A fossa
will patrol an area of 1.5 square miles (4 square kms) or more, which means
that the species has a low population density and individuals are not easily
seen.
Fossas originality hunted members of another of Madagascar’s
unique animal groups, the lemurs, but as numbers of the latter have declined,
fossas have been forced to take pigs, poultry and other domesticated animals.
That has made them targets for persecution by humans which, together with
habitat loss, has added the fossa to the list of highly endangered species.
© John Welford
Hi John! Worth mentioning that all mammals native to Madagascar come from ancestors that drifted from Africa, since all Madagascan mammals are placentals, which hadn't evolved 160million years ago. Also, these days, taxonomists don't talk of "primitive" like that! Imagine how you'd explain to a mongoose etc, why he was more "primitive" than a cat?! :-)
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