The golden palm civet is a palm civetendemic to Sri Lanka. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Its distribution is severely fragmented, and the extent and quality of its habitat in Sri Lanka's hill regions are declining. The golden palm civet was described by Peter Simon Pallas in 1778.
Taxonomy
Viverra zeylonensis was the scientific name proposed by Pallas in 1778 for a palm civet specimen from Sri Lanka. It was placed in the genus Paradoxurus by Edward Frederick Kelaart in 1852, who also described a fulvousbrown palm civet from the mountains of Sri Lanka. He considered this specimen a variety of the golden palm civet and proposed the scientific name Paradoxurus montanus. Since zoological specimens exhibit polymorphism, it was suggested to split the golden palm civet into distinct species in 2009:
the golden wet-zone palm civet Paradoxurus aureus and
the golden dry-zone palm civet Paradoxurus stenocephalus.
Genetic analysis indicates that specimens of P. montanus, P. aureus and P. stenocephalus share the same haplotype. Because of their low genetic difference, they should neither be considered distinct species nor subspecies, but junior synonyms of the golden palm civet.
Characteristics
The golden palm civet is brown on the upper side, but individually variable from dark sepia to ochreous, rusty or golden-brown. The tips of the contour hairs are frequently lustrous, sometimes greyish. The legs are about the same tint as the back, but the tail and the face are sometimes noticeably paler, buffy-grey. The face does not have a pattern, and the vibrissae are dirty white. The hair in front of the shoulders radiates from two whorls and grows forward along the sides of the neck and the nape to the head. It also grows forward on the fore throat, radiating from a single whorl. The dorsal pattern consists of faint bands and spots that are slightly darker than the ground colour. The lower side is slightly paler and sometimes greyer than the upper. The golden palm civet has two morphs — one golden and one dark brown.
The golden palm civet is forest-dependent, yet tolerant of minor habitat modification where some continuous forest remains. It is arboreal, nocturnal, and solitary; its diet consists of fruits, berries, invertebrates, and a wide range of small vertebrates.
In culture
In Sri Lanka the golden palm civet is called pani uguduwa පැනි උගුඩුවා, sapumal kalawaddha සපුමල් කලවැද්දා, or ranhothambuwa රන් හොතබුවා / hotambuwa හොතබුවා, by the Sinhala speaking community. Both golden and Asian palm civet are sometimes collectively called kalawedda in Sinhala and maranai in Tamil. However, the word hotambuwa is mostly used to refer altogether a different species ruddy mongoose. Due to similar appearance and coloration, they are mistaken as the same animal. This civet appears in 3 rupee Sri Lankan postal stamp. However, it is labeled "Golden Palm Cat" in the stamp.
