The binturong (Arctictis binturong) (, ), also known as the bearcat, is a viverrid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is uncommon in much of its range, and has been assessed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because of a declining population. It is estimated to have declined at least 30% since the mid-1980s. The binturong is the only species in the genus Arctictis.
Etymology
"Binturong" is its common name in Borneo, and is related to the Western Malayo-Polynesian root "ma-tuRun". In Riau, it is called "benturong" and "tenturun".
The scientific name Arctictis means 'bear-weasel', from the Greek arkt- "bear" + iktis "weasel".
Taxonomy
Viverra binturong was the scientific name proposed by Thomas Stamford Raffles in 1822 for a specimen from Malacca. The generic name Arctictis was proposed by Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1824. Arctictis is a monotypic taxon; its morphology is similar to that of members of the genera Paradoxurus and Paguma.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, the following zoological specimens were described: Paradoxurus albifrons proposed by Frédéric Cuvier in 1822 was based on a drawing of a binturong from Bhutan prepared by Alfred Duvaucel. Arctictis penicillata by Temminck in 1835 were specimens from Sumatra and Java. Arctictis whitei proposed by Joel Asaph Allen in 1910 were skins of two female binturongs collected in Palawan Island in the Philippines. Arctictis pageli proposed by Ernst Schwarz in 1911 was a skin and skull of a female collected in northern Borneo. Arctictis gairdneri proposed by Oldfield Thomas in 1916 was a skull of a male binturong collected in southwestern Thailand. Arctictis niasensis proposed by Marcus Ward Lyon Jr. in 1916 was a binturong skin from Nias Island. A. b. kerkhoveni by Henri Jacob Victor Sody in 1936 was based on specimens from Bangka Island. A. b. menglaensis by Wang and Li in 1987 was based on specimens from the Yunnan Province in China.
Nine subspecies have been recognized forming two clades. The northern clade in mainland Asia is separated from the Sundaic clade by the Isthmus of Kra.
Characteristics
The binturong is long and heavy, with short, stout legs. It has a thick coat of coarse black hair. The bushy and prehensile tail is thick at the root, gradually tapering, and curls inwards at the tip. The muzzle is short and pointed, somewhat turned up at the nose, and is covered with bristly hairs, brown at the points, which lengthen as they diverge, and form a peculiar radiated circle round the face. The eyes are large, black and prominent. The ears are short, rounded, edged with white, and terminated by tufts of black hair. There are six short rounded incisors in each jaw, two canines, which are long and sharp, and six molars on each side. The hair on the legs is short and of a yellowish tinge. The feet are five-toed, with large strong claws. The soles are bare, and are plantigrade ― applied to the ground throughout the whole of their length ― and the hind ones are longer than the fore ones.
In general build, the binturong is essentially like Paradoxurus and Paguma, but more massive in the length of the tail, legs and feet, in the structure of the scent glands, and in the larger size of the rhinarium, which is more convex with a median groove being much narrower above the philtrum. The contour hairs of the coat are much longer and coarser, and the long hairs covering the whole of the back of the ears project beyond the tip as a definite tuft. The anterior bursa flap of the ears is more widely and less deeply emarginate. The tail is more muscular, especially at the base and, in colour, generally like the body, but commonly paler at the base beneath. The body hairs are frequently partly whitish or buff, giving a speckled appearance to the pelage, sometimes so pale that the whole body is mostly straw-coloured or grey. The young are often paler than the adults, but the head is always closely speckled with grey or buff. The long mystacial vibrissae are conspicuously white, and there is a white rim on the summit of the otherwise black ear. The glandular area is whitish.