Viverridae
Viverridae is a family of small to medium-sized, feliform mammals. The viverrids (/vaɪˈvɛrɪdz/) comprise 33 species placed in 14 genera. This family was named and first described by John Edward Gray in 1821. Viverrids occur all over Africa, southern Europe, and South and Southeast Asia, across the Wallace Line.
| Viverridae Temporal range: Eocene to Recent | |
|---|---|
| Viverrids, including (top left to bottom right), species of Paradoxurus, Genetta, Paguma and Arctictis | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Infraorder: | Aeluroidea |
| Parvorder: | Viverroidea |
| Family: | Viverridae Gray, 1821 |
| Type genus | |
| Viverra Linnaeus, 1758 | |
| Genera | |
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| Distribution of living viverrid species | |
Almost all viverrids outside the subfamily Genettinae are commonly called civets, but some civets are not viverrids. Animals of the subfamily Genettinae are known as genets and oyans. The word viverridae comes from the Latin viverra 'ferret', but ferrets are in a different family, the Mustelidae.
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