Common European Small-Spotted Genets (Genetta genetta): Linnaean Ringtails of Africa and Eurasia

Getting noticed by Carl Linnaeus (May 23, 1707 – January 10, 1778) -- Småland-born Swedish botanist, founder of modern ecology and taxonomy, physician, zoologist -- augurs well for wildlife. Common genets indeed can be considered officially identified since the Linnaean observations of 1758. But excluding environmentalists and exotic pet-owners, their name lacks household and worldwide recognition despite designations by languages within the arboreal nocturnalist’s bio-geography:

• Arabic: الرتم;
• Aragonese: Chineta;
• Basque: Katajineta;
• Catalan: Geneta comuna;
• Esperanto: Genoto;
• French: Genette commune, genette d’Europe;
• Galician: Algaria, xeneta;
• German: Europäische Ginsterkatze, Kleinfleck-Ginsterkatze;
• Portuguese: Gineta-europeia;
• South African: Bush-cats (English), Insimba (South Ndebele, Swati, Zulu), inyhwagi (Xhosa), kanu (Swahili), kleinkolmuskejaatkat (Afrikaans), nsimba-maxanatsi (Tsonga), tshipa (Sotho, Tswana), tsimba (Shona, Venda);
• Spanish: Gato almizclero, gineta, jineta.

But current scientific classification acknowledges the input of two languages from the common genet’s bio-geography. The binomial (“two-name,” or genus + species) designation Genetta genetta arises from the French word genette perpetuating the Arabic identification jarnait. The Arabic term assumes special importance in identifying the means and timing of the omnivorous mammal’s expansion outside the original and persevering homeland of all genets. Common genets alone can be found inhabiting apparently native ranges outside Africa. They indeed can be numbered among western Asia’s native wildlife in:

• Israel;
• Oman;
• Saudi Arabia;
• Yemen.

But they descend from successfully naturalized introductions during the establishment of Muslim caliphates from the seventh century onward in the southwest European countries of:

• France;
• Portugal;
• Spain.

Common genets additionally answer to the names:

• European genet, from the above-mentioned, unique naturalizations;
• Small-spotted genet, through comparison with Africa’s other spotted and striped genets.

Their common name as common genet continues in English and European language translations because of the species’ most widespread distribution of all native genets within Africa, regarding both total affected area and total number of host countries. Common genets indeed can be found in Africa’s:

• North: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia;
• Central West: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Togo;
• Central East: Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda;
• South: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Bio-geographical and physical subtleties demand subspecies classifications. They do not impede recognizing common genets as:

• Big-eared;
• Bushy-tailed;
• Fleet-bodied;
• Long-whiskered;
• Loose-jointed;
• Narrow-snouted;
• Plush-coated;
• Round-eyed;
• Short-legged;
• Thick-necked;
• Tiptoe-gaited.

This elongated sinewiness oftentimes eludes predatory leopards, raptors, and reptiles because of dappled, dark-and-light, woody-like camouflaging from:

• Black-crested spine;
• Buff, cream, grey or yellow coat with 3 – 4+ black- or brown-spotted horizontal rows;
• Dark-eyebrowed, green-eyeshining brown eyes;
• Dark-patched cheeks, chin, and throat;
• Light-splotched ears, eyes, muzzle, and paws;
• Light-tipped tail with 8 – 13 black rings.

Eco-blending is supplemented by common genet self-defenses of:

• Bristled back-hairs;
• 5 retractable claws per paw;
• 40 teeth, with 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 premolars, and 4 molars per lower and upper jaws;
• Handstand-released stink-bombs;
• Stand-up fighting.

Bio-geography and budgets frustrate trinomial (“three-name”) classifications. Scientists identify G.g. genetta as the Linnaean nominate (“first-designated”). Of 12 – 30+ possible subspecies, they ponder:

• G.g. afra (Georges Cuvier [August 23, 1769 – May 13, 1832], 1825);
• G.g. balearica (Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas [February 21, 1858 – June 16, 1929], 1902);
• G.g. felina (Carl Peter Thunberg [November 11, 1743 – August 8, 1828], 1811);
• G.g. granti (Thomas, 1902);
• G.g. hintoni (Schwarz, 1929);
• G.g. isabelae (Miguel Delibes, 1977);
• G.g. pulchra (Paul Matschie [August 11, 1861 - March 7, 1926], 1902);
• G.g. pyrenaica (Édouard Sicaire Bourdelle [September 21, 1876 – June 16, 1960] and M. Dezilière, 1951);
• G.g. rhodanica (Matschie, 1902);
• G.g. senegalensis (Johann Baptist Fischer [1803 – May 26, 1832], 1829);
• G.g. terraesanctae (Neumann, 1902).

But entering and exiting genet head-sized burrows, crevices, and hollows undoubtedly becomes the ultimate self-defense. Such flexibility encourages adults to sample:

• Arthropods (especially centipedes, insects, millipedes, and scorpions);
• Bird eggs and birds;
• Buds, fruits, and nuts;
• Frogs, geckoes, lizards, and snakes;
• Mammals (especially dormice [Eliomys quercinus], red squirrels [Sciurus vulgaris], and wood mice [Apodemus sylvaticus]).

It specifically helps females:

• Gestating 70 – 78 days;
• Producing 2 biannual litters of 1 – 4 cubs/kittens each.

It also must explain healthy survival rates of 2.15 – 2.89-ounce (61 – 82-gram) newborns becoming:

• Hearing, seeing youths in 5 – 18 days;
• Purring, mewing, and hiccupping communicators for the respectively first 7, 45, and 150 days;
• Weaned, growl-emitting foragers and click-uttering guards in 50 – 62 days.

Common genets attain physical and sexual maturity in 2 years, with:

• Head-and-body lengths: 16.54 – 22.83 inches (420 – 580 millimeters);
• Tail lengths: 15.35 – 20.87 inches (390 – 530 millimeters);  
• Weights: 2.20 – 6.614 pounds (1 – 3 kilograms).

Adults commit to:

• Home ranges non-overlapping with same-gendered -- but overlapping with opposite-gendered -- neighbors;
• Individualized, permanent dens near dry-aired caves, rocks, and streams;
• Paired or solitary forages up to 9,842.52 feet (3,000 meters) above sea level;
• Scent-marked territories in deciduous woodlands, mixed scrublands, and pine forests.

They handle wild-urban interfaces since cats, dogs, and people may be considered allies whereas birds, hamsters, and poultry may be deemed prey. But they remain defenseless against:

• Globally-warmed climate change;
• Flesh- and fur-hunting Africans and Eurasians.

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

"Snowy Linnaeus": Eden, Janine and Jim (edenpictures), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/edenpictures/5310744475/

Distribution data from IUCN Red List: Chermundy/ IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, species assessors and the authors of the spatial data, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Common_Genet_area.png

distribution of Genetta genetta in France: Delore (Oeneis), CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genette_france_2008.png

René Martin, Atlas de poche des mammifères (1910), Plate 28, opp. p. 28: Public Domain, via Biodiversity Heritage Library @ https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14961692

jllnws, uploader. "Ninja Genet & Karate Kitten." YouTube, Sep. 18, 2012, @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwXILwCL0pk

Deux genettes communes (Genetta genetta), parc animalier des Pyrénées, Argelès-Gazost, Hautes-Pyrénées, France: Père Igor, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Genette_Argelès-Gazost_parc_animalier_(1).JPG

oil on canvas portrait by John Ernest Breun (1862-1921), bequeathed by Oldfield Thomas to London's Natural History Museum: K.M. Helgen; R.P Miguez; J. Kohen; L. Helgen. ZooKeys 255 (Dec. 28, 2012), Figure 3, page 107: Pensoft Publishers/ZooKeys, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Michael_Rogers_Oldfield_Thomas_-_ZooKeys-255-103-g003-bottom_right.jpeg

garden dormouse (Eliomys quercinus): Arno Laurent, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Eliomys_quercinus01.jpg

Monte de El Pardo, Madrid, central Spain: Esetena, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monte_de_El_Pardo_Atardecer.jpg

aerial view of Inca from southeast, central Mallorca, Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean Sea: Aisano, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inca_(Mallorca)_1.jpeg

December in south central Pyrenees: Efrainlarrea, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vallibierna.jpg

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