fossa

[Latin, ditch, from feminine past participle of fodere, to dig.]

Cryptoprocta ferox

SUBFAMILY

Galidiinae

TAXONOMY

Cryptoprocta ferox Bennett, 1833, Madagascar.

OTHER COMMON NAMES

Malagasy: Fosa; French: Fousa; German: Frettkatze; Spanish: Fossa gatuno.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

Largest herpestid, 5–6.6 ft (1.5–2 m) with tail. Weight 15.4–26.5 lb (7–12 kg). Coat is reddish brown. Slender body and short legs, square muzzle and round ears. Canines and carnassials are well developed.

DISTRIBUTION

All of Madagascar except High Plateaux.

HABITAT

Lives in forest and woodland.

BEHAVIOR

Crepuscular and nocturnal, solitary. Lives in the trees and on the ground.

FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET

Diet includes lemurs, small mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects.

REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY

Polygamous. Females have one litter per year of two to four young born November to January. Weaning at 4.5 months. Adulthood reached at three years.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Listed as Endangered due to habitat loss and human persecution.

SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS

None known.

A pit, hollow, or depression.

Fossa. (Bath-Balogh/Fehrenbach, 1997)

A rounded basin-like depression in a bone which often provides a surface for articulation (e.g. the acetabular fossa).

Pl. fossae [L.] a trench or channel; a hollow or depressed area.

• acetabular f. — the nonarticular part of the acetabulum.
• amygdaloid f. — the depression in which the palatine tonsil is lodged in some species.
• cerebral f. — any of the depressions on the floor of the cranial cavity.
• lateral cerebral f. — see vallecula sylvii.
• f. clitoridis — the cavity in which the glans clitoridis resides.
• condylar f., condyloid f. — either of depressions lateral to the occipital condyles.
• coronoid f. — a depression in the humerus for the coronoid process of the ulna. Called also radial fossa.
• cranial f. — any one of the three hollows (rostral, middle and caudal) in the base of the cranium for the lobes of the brain.
• ethmoid f. — the hollow in the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bones, for the olfactory bulb.
• f. glandis — depression at the end of the stallion glans penis, housing the urethral process; it harbors smegma and potential pathogens.
• glenoid f. — mandibular fossa.
• hyaloid f. — a depression in the front of the vitreous body, lodging the lens.
• hypophyseal f., hypophysial f. — a depression in the sphenoid lodging the pituitary gland; called also pituitary fossa.
• infratemporal f. — an irregularly shaped cavity medial or deep to the zygomatic arch.
• intercrural f. — the fossa between the cerebral peduncles.
• interpeduncular f. — a triangular depression between the crura cerebri.
• ischiorectal f. — a potential space between the pelvic diaphragm, the ischium and the skin.
• lacrimal sac f. — excavated from the lacrimal bone and housing the lacrimal sac.
• lingual f. — the transverse groove on the dorsum of the bovine tongue between the torus and the tip.
• mandibular f. — a depression in the pars squamosa of the temporal bone at the base of the zygomatic process, in which the condyle of the mandible rests; called also glenoid fossa.
• nasal f. — the right or left half of the nasal cavity.
• f. nudatae — see synovial fossa (below).
• olecranon f. — between the epicondylar crests at the distal end of the humerus; receives the anconeal process of the ulna.
• f. ovalis cordis — a fossa in the right atrium of the heart; the remains of the fetal foramen ovale.
• ovarian f. — a shallow depression on the surface of the mare's ovary. Called also ovulation fossa.
• paralumbar f. — the hollow of the flank, bounded dorsally by the transverse processes of the lumbar vertebrae, cranially by the last rib and caudally by the muscles of the thigh.
• pituitary f. — hypophyseal fossa.
• radial f. — see coronoid fossa (above).
• rhomboidal f. — floor of the fourth ventricle.
• supracondylar f. — the depression between the condyles of the femur.
• supraspinous f. — a depression cranial to the spine of the scapula.
• synovial f. — depressed, cartilage-free islands in large articular cartilages; no function has been determined for them. Called also fossa nudatae.
• temporal f. — an area on the side of the cranium bounded by the temporal line and the zygomatic arch, lodging the temporal muscle.
• trochanteric f. — the deep fossa at the proximal end of the femur between the greater and lesser trochanters.