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There is little information currently available regarding communication and perception of small-toothed palm civets. However, females have perineal scent glands that are used for chemical signaling during mating and breeding periods.
Communication Channels: chemical
Other Communication Modes: pheromones
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; acoustic ; chemical
Small-toothed palm civets have not been currently identified as a species of concern by the IUCN Red List, US Federal List, or CITES. This is due in part to their relatively wide distribution and their occurrence in several protected areas. In addition, their nocturnal and arboreal nature put them at a lower risk to hunting threats in comparison to similar sized carnivores and ground living mammals. The greatest threat to small-toothed palm civets are habitat loss and degradation due to deforestation.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
There are no known adverse effects of small-toothed palm civets on humans.
small-toothed palm civets become victims of the black market pet trade. When walking in the markets of Southeast Asia they are found for sale, which could be considered a benefit to the local economy. However, they are difficult for humans to trap or acquire since they are quite agile in their natural habitat. Rarely small-toothed palm civets will be taken for their meat in Chinese and Vietnamese markets. However, due to their small size they are often not worth the effort.
Positive Impacts: pet trade ; food
Since they are frugivores and one of the only arboreal carnivores in their ecosystem, small-toothed palm civets play a key role in seed dispersal. They also control prey populations.
Ecosystem Impact: disperses seeds; keystone species
While listed as a carnivore and known to prey on a wide range of small mammals, small-toothed palm civets are often seen eating an array of fruits. Due to the development and arrangement of their teeth it is assumed that fruit is the most important item in their diet. The rows of teeth for this species are unique to the carnivore order. The first and second upper molars are displaced laterally, which results in the last pair of the upper molars being the farthest apart. In addition, the smaller teeth are widely spread and demonstrate no shearing function. Small-toothed palm civets have an omnivorous diet, including insects, small mammals, birds, frogs, and lizards.
Animal Foods: birds; mammals; amphibians; reptiles; eggs; insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Plant Foods: fruit
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates, Insectivore ); herbivore (Frugivore ); omnivore
Small-toothed palm civets are widely distributed throughout the Oriental region of Asia and the south eastern tip of the Palearctic geographic regions. Civets range from northeast India to southeast Asia. Current sightings have been confirmed in Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Laos including but not limited to the islands of Sumatra, Borneo, and Java.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); oriental (Introduced , Native )
Small-toothed palm civets are primarily a solitary, nocturnal, and arboreal species found over a wide range of habitats. Sightings have occurred in low-lands, as well as dense primary and secondary tropical canopies of coniferous forests. They have also been seen in mixed coniferous forest up to 1,450 m above sea level. It is not uncommon to receive reports of sightings in areas of active logging and coconut plantations. They inhabit very remote areas of the forests, however have been seen as close as 3 km from established villages, but this is not common for small-toothed palm civets.
Range elevation: 1,450 (high) m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: forest ; rainforest ; scrub forest
Other Habitat Features: riparian
The lifespan of small-toothed palm civets is 10 to 12 years in the wild.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 10 to 12 years.
Small-toothed Palm Civets are mid-sized when considering its family, with measurements of: head and body length 44 to 60 cm, tail length 48 to 66 cm, hind foot 7.4 to 8.0 cm, ears 2.8 to 4.2 cm, and weigh between 2 and 2.5 kg. Pelage is short, tawny to buff color and varies according to the surrounding environment. Due to their tropical habitat there has been no seasonal variation in pelage. Generally, the head and back is beige, brownish grey, and sometimes reddish brown; while the under pelage is a reddish brown. Their heads, ears, feet, and tails are usually a dusky brown to grayish black. It is not uncommon to see a white strip extending from their nose to their forehead, usually with three noticeable black or dark brown stripes or spots extending from their neck to the base of their tail and midway down their sides. Many times small-toothed palm civets are confused with Asian palm civets due to the variability in their pelage. Although small-toothed palm civets will have more linear stripes and distinct edges than Asian palm civets. The eye dimensions are noticeably different between the two and eyes are larger in small-toothed palm civets. Researchers debate over the division of the species into three different sub-species based on morphology: Arctogalidia trivirgata trileneata, Arctogalidia trivirgata leucotis, and Arctogalidia trivirgata trivirgata (Eaton et al 2010). There has not been much research on this topic and standardization between the sub-species is complicated due to phenotypic variation within each sub-species. Young seem to exhibit a more beige color pelage, smaller tails, and considerably smaller in size than adults. Little is known about the young in their natural habitat as they are mainly arboreal, nocturnal, and difficult to observe.
Range mass: 2.0 to 2.5 kg.
Range length: 44 to 60 cm.
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.275 cm3.O2/g/hr.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry ; polymorphic
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
According to Eaton et al., when reticulated pythons have been captured and harvested, they have found in their digestive tracts the remains of small-toothed palm civets. Since they are arboreal and not known to spend much time on the ground, small-toothed palm civets would be at low risk of predation.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: aposematic
Small-toothed palm civets are nocturnal in nature so there are no observations of their mating system.
Small-toothed palm civets are aseasonal breeders, with some having two litters a year of two to three young. They have a gestation period of 45 days. Only females have a parineal scent gland located near the vulva, which is used to signal mates. Females are reported to have two pairs of mammae.
Breeding interval: Small-toothed palm civets breed twice a year.
Breeding season: Small-toothed palm civets mate aseasonally, year-round.
Average number of offspring: 2 to 3.
Average gestation period: 45 days.
Average weaning age: 61 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 17 months.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 17 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; year-round breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Little is known about small-toothed palm civet parental care as they are nocturnal and arboreal making observation difficult.
Parental Investment: altricial ; female parental care ; pre-fertilization (Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female)
