Mongoose

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Mongooses (Herpestidae) are a family of 33 species of small carnivorans from southern Eurasia and mainland Africa. Four additional species from Madagascar in the subfamily Galidiinae, which were previously classified in this family, are also frequently referred to as "mongooses". Genetic evidence indicates that the Galidiinae are more closely related to other Madagascar carnivorans in the family Eupleridae, which is the closest living group to mongooses. The word mongoose is derived from the Marathi name mangus, perhaps ultimately from Dravidian Telugu mungeesa, Kannada mungisi. The form of the English name (since 1698) was altered to its -goose ending by folk-etymology. It has no etymological connection with the word goose. The plural form is mongooses, or, rarely, mongeese. It has also been spelled mungoose.