The banded linsang is the rarest of the civets. This animal is sometimes referred to as the Tiger-civet.
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
CITES Appendix II.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
none noted
Potentially important as an attraction to ecotourism. The Banded Linsang is found in many parks and reserves throughout Thailand, and they could be a draw for wildlife observers.
Banded linsangs are omnivorous. A main part of their diet consists of small vertebrates such as squirrels, rats, birds and lizards. (LA Natural History Museum, 1997)
Western Malaysia, Sumatra, Bornea, Java, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Biogeographic Regions: oriental (Native )
Banded linsangs live in tropical rainforests. They spend a large portion of their time in the trees.
Terrestrial Biomes: rainforest
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 10.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 10.7 years.
The body of the banded linsang is 40 cm long, and the tail is about 34 cm. Banded linsangs are very pale yellow with five large transverse dark bands on their backs. They have broad stripes on their necks with small elongate spots and stripes on their flanks. The tail has seven or eight dark bands and ends in a dark tip. Banded linsangs have retractile claws which are very sharp, and have specialized razor-sharp teeth for shearing their food. The soles of their feet have hair between the pads and their toes. (Cincinatti Zoo, 1997)
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average mass: 700 g.
Very little is known about these animals' reproduction behavior.
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
Average birth mass: 40 g.
Average number of offspring: 2.25.
The banded linsang (Prionodon linsang) is a linsang, a tree-dwelling carnivorous mammal native to the Sundaic region of Southeast Asia.[2]
The banded linsang grows to 35–41.1 cm (13.8–16.2 in), with a long tail that can reach 36.2 cm (14.3 in).[3] It is a pale yellow with five dark bands. The average weight is around 700 g. It has broad stripes on its neck and its tail consists of several dark bands with a dark tip. The tail has seven or eight dark bands and ends in a dark tip. The banded linsang has very sharp retractable claws.[4]
The banded linsang has been recorded in southern Myanmar, Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, and the Sunda Islands of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Bangka and Belitung Islands. It lives in evergreen forests. In Thailand and Malaysia it has been recorded in deciduous forest, and in Sarawak also in secondary forest and close to oil palm plantations.[2]
In 2013, a banded linsang was recorded for the first time by a camera-trap in the hill forests of Karen State.[5]
The banded linsang is nocturnal and usually solitary.[6] It is carnivorous, with its diet consisting of small vertebrates, such as birds, rats, and snakes.[3]
Very little is known about the banded linsang's reproduction. It is thought that litters of 2–3 are born semiannually in a nest in burrows or hollow trees.[7]
Until recently the two species of Asiatic linsangs were considered to be members of the family Viverridae and to be related to the morphologically similar genets. However, recent genetic taxonomy investigations have strongly suggested that the Asiatic linsangs are a sister-group of the cat family, Felidae. It has been proposed that the Asiatic linsangs be placed in the monogeneric family Prionodontidae.[8]
The banded linsang (Prionodon linsang) is a linsang, a tree-dwelling carnivorous mammal native to the Sundaic region of Southeast Asia.
