Yellow Mongoose

Kingdom: Animalia

Characteristics that place it here:

• Rely on other organisms for nourishment.

• Ingest food and digest food in an internal cavity.

• have their own means of motion.

• Multicellular  with specialized eukaryotic cells ( cells with a certain membrane around the nucleus).

Phylum: Chordata

Characteristics that place it here:

•  Symmetrical bodies.

• Members often have a head, tail, and digestive system with an opening at both ends of the body.

• Have a notochord at some phase in their life.

• They have a pair if gill slits or pouches for obtaining oxygen in a liquid enviroment.

Class: Mammalia

Characteristics that place it here:

• Conceive their young within the reproductive tract of the mother.

• Nourish young with milk produced by the mother's mammary glands.

• Are heterodonts (that means that they have a variety of specialized teeth).

• Are endothermic (warm blooded).

• They have hair and sweat glands.

• They have a four chambered heart.

• They have a complex nervous system.

• They have large brains.

Order: Carnivora

Characteristics that place it here:

• Are carnivores

• Eat other animals as a source of food.

Family: Herpestidae

Characteristics that place it here:

• Most are carnivores.

• feed on small rodents.

Genius: Cynictis

Species: Cynictis Penicillita

Description of species:

The mongoose lives mostly in southern Africa.  The are carnivores and they eat insects, eggs, and carrion.  They are well known for their ability to kill snakes.

Poem:

The yellow mongoose.

Watch him frolic in the sun.

So care free, so fun.

References: My information came from Animal Diversity at http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/cynictis/c._penicillata$narrative.html on January 3, 2001.

My picture came from Flora and Fauna Home at http://www.jambokenya.com/jambo/fauna/mongoose.htm on January 10, 2001.