NATURAL HISTORY · CATALOGUE RECORD
Indian Brown Mongoose
Urva fusca (Waterhouse, 1838)
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.
This is a photograph of Indian Brown Mongoose (Herpestes fuscus) from Western Ghats, India
Navaneeth Kishor · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Indian brown mongoose or brown mongoose (Urva fusca) is a mongoose species native to the Western Ghats in India and the western coast in Sri Lanka and introduced to Fiji. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List.
Wikipedia contributors, Indian brown mongoose; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T09:12:17.585516+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Urva fusca (Waterhouse, 1838)
- Name authority
- (Waterhouse, 1838)
- Common name
- Indian Brown Mongoose
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammalia
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Herpestidae
- Genus
- Urva
- 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
- genusUrva Hodgson, 1837
- speciesUrva fusca (Waterhouse, 1838)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Urva. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Javan MongooseUrva javanica (É. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1818) | HerpestidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
| Ruddy MongooseUrva smithii (Gray, 1837) | HerpestidaeChordata | Accepted speciesRecorded extant |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Herpestes fuscus maccarthiae (Gray, 1851) (Gray, 1851) | synonym |
| Herpestes fuscus flavidens Kelaart, 1850 Kelaart, 1850 | synonym |
| Herpestes fuscus Waterhouse, 1838 Waterhouse, 1838 | 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=1229754 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:CGHSV. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.