It is hard to guess what a Ethiopian dwarf mongoose weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Ethiopian dwarf mongoose (Helogale hirtula) on average weights 485 grams (1.07 lbs).
The Ethiopian dwarf mongoose is from the family Herpestidae (genus: Helogale). When reaching adult age, they grow up to 23 cm (0′ 10″).
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
The Ethiopian dwarf mongoose (Helogale hirtula), also known as the desert dwarf mongoose or Somali dwarf mongoose, is a mongoose found in eastern Africa, particularly Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.The Ethiopian dwarf mongoose will send out warning calls to its family if a predator is detected. They have also been known to produce general alarm calls when danger is not present. These calls have different pitches which indicate different levels of urgency for the family. A study of dwarf mongoose suggested that they could convey the predator’s species, distance and elevation to the family all through alarm calls.
Animals of the same family as a Ethiopian dwarf mongoose
We found other animals of the Herpestidae family:
- Cape gray mongoose with a weight of 791 grams
- Stripe-necked mongoose bringing 2.38 kilos (5.25 lbs) to the scale
- Alexander’s kusimanse bringing 1.5 kilos (3.31 lbs) to the scale
- Egyptian mongoose bringing 3 kilos (6.61 lbs) to the scale
- Brown-tailed mongoose with a weight of 711 grams
- Bengal mongoose with a weight of 741 grams
- Angolan slender mongoose with a weight of 750 grams
- Indian grey mongoose bringing 1.31 kilos (2.89 lbs) to the scale
- Meller’s mongoose bringing 2.24 kilos (4.94 lbs) to the scale
- Namaqua slender mongoose with a weight of 750 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Ethiopian dwarf mongoose
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Helogale hirtula:
- Brazilian yellow-toothed cavy bringing 450 grams to the scale
- Short-tailed chinchilla bringing 499 grams to the scale
- Black and rufous elephant shrew bringing 423 grams to the scale
- Goeldi’s marmoset bringing 558 grams to the scale
- Painted tree-rat bringing 518 grams to the scale
- Giant Atlantic tree-rat bringing 502 grams to the scale
- Short-tailed chinchilla bringing 500 grams to the scale
- Golden-headed lion tamarin bringing 573 grams to the scale
- Long-tailed armored tree-rat bringing 439 grams to the scale
- Greater mole-rat bringing 470 grams to the scale
Animals with the same size as a Ethiopian dwarf mongoose
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Ethiopian dwarf mongoose:
- Ihering’s Atlantic spiny rat with a size of 19.7 cm (0′ 8″)
- Long-eared hedgehog with a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Barbary ground squirrel with a size of 18.9 cm (0′ 8″)
- Derby’s woolly opossum with a size of 23.1 cm (0′ 10″)
- Summit rat with a size of 19 cm (0′ 8″)
- Common echymipera with a size of 27 cm (0′ 11″)
- Three-striped dasyure with a size of 19.1 cm (0′ 8″)
- Stoat with a size of 21.6 cm (0′ 9″)
- Great Key Island giant rat with a size of 27.5 cm (0′ 11″)
- Smoky pocket gopher with a size of 21.4 cm (0′ 9″)