NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Marsh Mongoose
Atilax paludinosus (G. Cuvier, 1829)
Source-backed taxonomic record
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Marsh mongoose or water mongoose, Atilax paludinosus, at Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Gauteng, South Africa
Derek Keats from Johannesburg, South Africa · CC BY 2.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The marsh mongoose (Atilax paludinosus), also called water mongoose, is a medium-sized mongoose species native to sub-Saharan Africa that inhabits freshwater wetlands. It has been listed as a Least-concern species on the IUCN Red List since 2008.
Wikipedia contributors, Marsh mongoose; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T03:43:22.168322+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Atilax paludinosus (G. Cuvier, 1829)
- Name authority
- (G. Cuvier, 1829)
- Common name
- Marsh Mongoose
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Herpestidae
- Genus
- Atilax
- Extinction status
- Recorded extant
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- megaclassTetrapoda
- classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
- subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
- infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
- orderCarnivora Bowdich, 1821
- suborderFeliformia Kretzoi, 1945
- familyHerpestidae Bonaparte, 1845
- subfamilyHerpestinae Bonaparte, 1845
- genusAtilax F. Cuvier, 1826
- speciesAtilax paludinosus (G. Cuvier, 1829)
Close classified relatives
No other member of this genus is present in the selected snapshot.
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Atilax paludinosus nigerianus (Thomas, 1912) (Thomas, 1912) | synonym |
| Herpestes paludinosus G. Cuvier, 1829 G. Cuvier, 1829 | synonym |
Documented distribution
Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=621880 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:CFHH4. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.