What is African palm civet?
{{Speciesbox |name = African palm civet |image = The_carnivores_of_West_Africa_(Nandinia_binotata_white_background).png |status = LC |status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref = <ref name=iucn /> |grandparent_authority = [[Reginald Innes Pocock|Pocock]], 1929 |parent_authority = [[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1843 |display_parents = 3 |genus = Nandinia |species = binotata |authority = ([[John Edward Gray|Gray]], 1830) |synonyms = ''Viverra binotata'' <small>Gray 1830</small> |synonyms_ref =<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft|id=14000472}}</ref> |range_map = African Palm Civet area.png |range_map_caption = African palm civet range |range_map_alt = Map of Africa showing highlighted range covering southern West Africa and much of central Africa }} The '''African palm civet''' (''Nandinia binotata''), or '''two-spotted palm civet''', is a small [[mammal]].<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft|id=14000472}}</ref> It is in the [[Feliformia]] suborder.<ref name=iucn>{{IUCN2008|assessors=Van Rompaey H; Gaubert P. & Hoffmann M. |year=2008|id=41589|title=Nandinia binotata|downloaded=22 March 2009}} Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern</ref> It has short legs, small ears, a body like a [[civet cat]], and a long lithe tail as long as its body. Adults usually weigh {{convert|1.70|to|2.10|kg|lb|abbr=on}}. It is native to the forests of eastern [[Africa]] and the [[Congo River]] [[basin (geology)|basin]]. It usually lives in trees, and it is [[omnivorous]]: it eats [[rodent]]s, [[insect]]s, eggs, [[carrion]], fruit, birds and [[fruit bat]]s. The animal is generally [[wikt:solitary|solitary]] and [[nocturnal]]. Although it looks like other civet species (in the family [[Viverridae]]), the African palm civet is genetically distinct: they probably diverged from other civets before the cats did. They are therefore classified as the only species in the genus '''''Nandinia''''' and in their own family, '''Nandiniidae'''. However, not all experts accept this. ==References== {{Commons}} {{reflist}}