Crab-eating Mongoose

Crab-eating Mongoose
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Herpestidae
Subfamily:	Herpestinae
Genus:	Herpestes
Species:	H. urva
Binomial name
Herpestes urva Hodgson, 1836
Crab-eating Mongoose range (green - extant, pink - probably extant)

The Crab-eating Mongoose (Herpestes urva) is a species of mongoose found in northwestern India, Nepal, Myanmar, southern China, and through southeast Asia, including the countries of Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Laos and Thailand.

It is generally grey in color, with a broad white stripe on its neck extending from its cheeks to its chest. Its throat is steel-gray with white ends of its hair, rendering a salt and pepper appearance. Its hind feet possess hairy soles. Its tail is short and homogeneously colored with a fairer tip.

Despite their common name, their diet consists not only of crabs, but also just about anything else they can catch, including fish, snails, frogs, rodents, birds, reptiles, and insects.

They are nocturnal, are excellent swimmers, and spend a fair amount of time in or near water or other moist plots of land.

References

1. ^ Duckworth, J.W. & Timmins, R.J. (2008). "Herpestes urva". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. International Union for Conservation of Nature. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/41618. Retrieved 26 May 2011.  Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern.

• Lioncrusher's Domain: Crab Eating Mongoose
• A field guide to Indian mammals by Vivek Menon
• Life and times of the Mongoose by Nandita Boogagee