How many baby Short-tailed mongooses are in a litter?
A Short-tailed mongoose (Herpestes brachyurus) usually gives birth to around 3 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 2.7 kg (5.95 lbs) and measure 1.3 cm (0′ 1″). They are a member of the Herpestidae family (genus: Herpestes). An adult Short-tailed mongoose grows up to a size of 41.5 cm (1′ 5″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The short-tailed mongoose (Herpestes brachyurus) is a mongoose species native to Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo. It inhabits evergreen forest and rural gardens from sea level to an elevation of 1,500 m (4,900 ft). It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2008.It was first described by John Edward Gray in 1837.It is red-brown to black and has black limbs. The head is grayish with a black spot on the chin. Its total body length is 60–65 cm (24–26 in) including a 25 cm (9.8 in) short tail. It weighs about 1.4 kg (3.1 lb).
Other animals of the family Herpestidae
Short-tailed mongoose is a member of the Herpestidae, as are these animals:
- Marsh mongoose with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Narrow-striped mongoose with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Broad-striped Malagasy mongoose with 1 babies per pregnancy
- Namaqua slender mongoose weighting only 750 grams
- White-tailed mongoose with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Meerkat with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Bengal mongoose weighting only 741 grams
- Ethiopian dwarf mongoose weighting only 485 grams
- Meller’s mongoose with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Javan mongoose with 2 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Short-tailed mongoose
Those animals also give birth to 3 babies at once:
- Broad-striped dasyure
- Hartwig’s soft-furred mouse
- Oryzomys couesi
- Long-eared hedgehog
- Yellow-throated marten
- Deroo’s mouse
- Rakali
- Namaqua rock rat
- Eastern red bat
- Long-clawed mole vole
Animals with the same weight as a Short-tailed mongoose
What other animals weight around 1.4 kg (3.08 lbs)?
- Common opossum usually reaching 1.14 kgs (2.51 lbs)
- Alexander’s kusimanse usually reaching 1.5 kgs (3.31 lbs)
- Northern brushtail possum usually reaching 1.55 kgs (3.42 lbs)
- Philippine flying lemur usually reaching 1.25 kgs (2.76 lbs)
- Sumatran striped rabbit usually reaching 1.51 kgs (3.33 lbs)
- Gambian mongoose usually reaching 1.64 kgs (3.62 lbs)
- Platypus usually reaching 1.48 kgs (3.26 lbs)
- Chacoan naked-tailed armadillo usually reaching 1.49 kgs (3.28 lbs)
- Spotted linsang usually reaching 1.14 kgs (2.51 lbs)
- Tufted ground squirrel usually reaching 1.35 kgs (2.98 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Short-tailed mongoose
Also reaching around 41.5 cm (1′ 5″) in size do these animals:
- Eastern quoll gets as big as 33.3 cm (1′ 2″)
- European mink gets as big as 36.1 cm (1′ 3″)
- Selous’s mongoose gets as big as 42.8 cm (1′ 5″)
- Beech marten gets as big as 46 cm (1′ 7″)
- De Vis’s woolly rat gets as big as 40.6 cm (1′ 4″)
- Scrub hare gets as big as 49.5 cm (1′ 8″)
- Indian grey mongoose gets as big as 39.8 cm (1′ 4″)
- Ring-tailed cat gets as big as 33.9 cm (1′ 2″)
- Red-bellied lemur gets as big as 40.4 cm (1′ 4″)
- Ground pangolin gets as big as 48.9 cm (1′ 8″)