This animal, also called the bear-cat, is allied to the palm-civets, or paradoxures, but differs from the rest of the family (Viverridae) by its tufted ears and long, bushy, prehensile tail, which is thick at the root and almost equals in length the head and body together (from 28 to 33 inches).
The civet-tribe (Viverridae), on the other hand, which is exclusively an Old World group, is abundant in Madagascar, where it is represented by peculiar and aberrant types.
Other peculiar animals are twenty-three species of the Centetidae, a family of the Insectivora almost confined to Madagascar; while of the Carnivora there are several small creatures belonging to the civets (Viverridae).