Banded Mongooses Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mungos mungo

The name of the banded mongoose comes from the generic name Mungos and the specific name mungo. The genus Mungos comprises of only two species, one being the banded mongoose and the other being the Gambian mongoose. The origin of both the generic and specific names of the banded mongoose is not clear.

Ichneumia albicauda is the scientific name for the white-tailed mongoose, Atilax paludinosus is the marsh mongoose and Suricata suricatta is the scientific name of the meerkat.

Answer: Hyenas

Banded mongooses belong to the Herpestidae family. Together with hyenas, they are classified under the sub-order Feliformia, which comprises cat-like carnivores. The remaining four families of the sub-order Feliformia are Eupleridae, Nandiniidae, Felidae and Viverridae.

Weasels, ratels and racoons are classified sub-order Caniformia which is comprised of dog-like carnivores..

Answer: Africa

The range of banded mongooses is restricted to the sub-Saharan Africa with the exception of the rainforest region of Congo. In their range they occupy a variety of habitats including grasslands, woodlands, shrublands and even rocky terrains.

Answer: False

Obligate carnivores are carnivores whose diet consist primarily of meat and who lack the physiology to digest plant material properly.

Banded mongooses are not obligate carnivores because, while they eat flesh, they are also known to feed on plant material such as fruits.

Answer: False

Though they are highly social mammals, banded mongooses do not share the food they find with others. While they typically forage for food individually, they remain in close proximity to other group members, communicating with low grunts to keep track of each other's locations.

After spending several hours foraging in the morning, they take a nap in the shade. Typically, they will go foraging again in the late afternoon.

Answer: Mate-guarding the female estrus

This behavior involves the male closely following and defending a female from other males, sometimes for several days, to ensure that he is the one to mate with her when she is receptive.

This ensures the likelihood of a dominant male fathering the most young.

Answer: Diurnal

Banded mongooses are mostly active during the day. They spend their days foraging for food, grooming, and interacting with each other. At night, banded mongooses retire to their dens or burrows, where they huddle together for warmth and protection.

Nocturnal species are those that are active during the night. Crepuscular species are those that are active during dawn and dusk. Verspetines are those that are active during the evening.

Answer: False

In a banded mongoose group, all of the females can reproduce, unlike in most other social mongoose species like dwarf mongooses and meerkats.

A few days after giving birth, they all go into oestrus, when 1-3 dominant males protect and mate with them.

Answer: Their young are born relatively underdeveloped

Altricial species are those in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth.

Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching, such as cows and horses.

Answer: Mutualism

Mutualism is a type of symbiotic relationship in which both participating species benefit from their interaction. In this association, warthogs get cleaned and banded mongooses get a meal.

Sometimes the warthogs are upright and the mongooses stand on their hind legs to find ticks, and at other times they lie down and allow the mongooses to crawl over them.