It is hard to guess what a Malagasy civet weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Malagasy civet (Fossa fossana) on average weights 1.86 kg (4.09 lbs).
The Malagasy civet is from the family Viverridae (genus: Fossa). It is usually born with about 70 grams (0.15 lbs). They can live for up to 11 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 45.7 cm (1′ 6″). Usually, Malagasy civets have 1 babies per litter.
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 Malagasy or striped civet (Fossa fossana), also known as the fanaloka (Malagasy, [fə̥ˈnaluk]) or jabady, is an euplerid endemic to Madagascar.The Malagasy civet is a small mammal, about 47 centimetres (19 in) long excluding the tail (which is only about 20 centimetres (7.9 in)). It can weigh 1.5 to 2.0 kilograms (3.3 to 4.4 lb). It is endemic to the tropical forests of Madagascar. Malagasy civets are nocturnal. It eats small vertebrates, insects, aquatic animals, and eggs stolen from birds’ nests. The mating season of the Malagasy civet is August to September and the gestation period is three months, ending with the birth of one young. The Malagasy Civet is listed as Vulnerable by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Animals of the same family as a Malagasy civet
We found other animals of the Viverridae family:
- Aquatic genet bringing 1.65 kilos (3.64 lbs) to the scale
- Giant forest genet bringing 2.74 kilos (6.04 lbs) to the scale
- Cape genet bringing 2.07 kilos (4.56 lbs) to the scale
- Sulawesi palm civet bringing 5.15 kilos (11.35 lbs) to the scale
- Small Indian civet bringing 2.95 kilos (6.5 lbs) to the scale
- Spotted linsang bringing 1.14 kilos (2.51 lbs) to the scale
- Servaline genet bringing 1.24 kilos (2.73 lbs) to the scale
- Malabar large-spotted civet bringing 12.08 kilos (26.63 lbs) to the scale
- Aquatic genet bringing 1.65 kilos (3.64 lbs) to the scale
- Abyssinian genet bringing 1.41 kilos (3.11 lbs) to the scale
Animals with the same weight as a Malagasy civet
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Fossa fossana:
- Southern giant slender-tailed cloud rat with a weight of 1.84 kilos (4.06 lbs)
- Crowned lemur with a weight of 1.7 kilos (3.75 lbs)
- Jamaican coney with a weight of 1.5 kilos (3.31 lbs)
- Liberian mongoose with a weight of 1.82 kilos (4.01 lbs)
- Northern brown bandicoot with a weight of 1.51 kilos (3.33 lbs)
- Johnston’s genet with a weight of 2.23 kilos (4.92 lbs)
- Tolai hare with a weight of 1.59 kilos (3.51 lbs)
- Coppery ringtail possum with a weight of 1.77 kilos (3.9 lbs)
- Greater bamboo lemur with a weight of 2.03 kilos (4.48 lbs)
- Red and white giant flying squirrel with a weight of 1.5 kilos (3.31 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Malagasy civet
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Malagasy civet:
- Small dorcopsis with a size of 38.7 cm (1′ 4″)
- Six-banded armadillo with a size of 44.8 cm (1′ 6″)
- White-throated guenon with a size of 45.7 cm (1′ 6″)
- Large-spotted civet with a size of 42.4 cm (1′ 5″)
- Pig-tailed langur with a size of 49.9 cm (1′ 8″)
- Black crested mangabey with a size of 51 cm (1′ 9″)
- Woodlark cuscus with a size of 37.2 cm (1′ 3″)
- Common brushtail possum with a size of 47.4 cm (1′ 7″)
- Hispid hare with a size of 46 cm (1′ 7″)
- Royal antelope with a size of 49.9 cm (1′ 8″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Malagasy civet
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Malagasy civet:
- South American sea lion
- Markhor
- Flores woolly bat
- Walrus
- Rüppell’s pipistrelle
- Pileated gibbon
- Speke’s gazelle
- Western gorilla
- Linnaeus’s two-toed sloth
- Highland brush mouse
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Malagasy civet
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Malagasy civet:
- Topi with an average maximal age of 12.5 years
- White-tailed mongoose with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Blue duiker with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Thylacine with an average maximal age of 13 years
- Red-legged sun squirrel with an average maximal age of 8.83 years
- Short-eared dog with an average maximal age of 11 years
- American mink with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Cave myotis with an average maximal age of 11.25 years
- Gerenuk with an average maximal age of 13 years
- Fischer’s pygmy fruit bat with an average maximal age of 10 years