Long-nosed cusimanse

The Long-nosed cusimanse (Crossarchus obscurus) can be found in forests and swamps of Africa, particularly Central and Western, also in Liberia, Ivory Coast and Ghana. A Long-nosed cusimanse is a mongoose, its body is thin, with short tail tapers. Long-nosed cusimanses heads are long, with short ears. Just like the other kinds of mongoose, their pupils are oval-shaped, horizontally. Their curved claws are used to catch insects, and the front claws are longer than those at the back. The feet's soles are hairless, the covering (of the body) is brown-grey and they have 36 teeth.

A Long-nosed cusimanse's diet is made up of larvae, small reptiles, berries, fruits and crabs. Foraging, they can come together in sets of up to 20 members. The Long-nosed cusimanse digs in leaves and using the snout, they can move wood. In a way, they are intelligent, for they can crack crab shells against stones.

The long-nosed cusimanse is a sociable creature, they can be found grouped together with up to 24 individuals. One to three families make up their group, each family is made up of a couple plus the newborns. They are in constant movement, not staying at a single place for long periods.

When domesticated, if a female is not mated, she could go into heat up to 9 times annually. In the wild, though, they can produce only two to three litters annually.

Image of the Long nosed cusimanse by LA Dawson, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5