Gabon, females were recorded to give birth in the long wet season and at the onset of the dry season between September and January. The female usually gives birth after a gestation period of 2–3 months. A litter consists of up to four young that are suckled for around three months. While she has suckling young the female's mammary glands produce an orange-yellow liquid which discolours her abdomen and the young civets' fur. This probably discourages males from mating with nursing females. Its generation length is 7.8 years. Taxonomy and evolution In 1830, John Edward Gray first described an African palm civet using the name Viverra binotata based on a zoological specimen obtained from a museum in Leiden. In 1843, Gray proposed the genus Nandinia and subordinated Viverra binotata to this genus. In 1929, Reginald Innes Pocock proposed the family Nandiniidae, with the genus Nandinia as sole member. He argued that it differs from the Aeluroidea by the structure and shape of its ear canal and mastoid part of the temporal bone. Results of morphological and molecular genetic analyses indicate that it differs from viverrids and diverged from the Feliformia about . Phylogenetic tree The phylogenetic relationships of African palm civet is shown in the following cladogram: Threats The African palm civet is threatened by habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat. In 2006, it was estimated that more than 4,300 African palm civets are hunted yearly in the Nigerian part and around 3,300 in the Cameroon part of the Cross-Sanaga-Bioko coastal forests. In Guinea, dead African palm civets were recorded in spring 1997 on bushmeat market in villages located in the vicinity of the National Park of Upper Niger. Dried heads of African palm civets were found in 2007 at the Bohicon and Dantokpa Markets in southern Benin, suggesting that they are used as fetish in animal rituals. The attitude of rural people in Ghana towards African palm civets is hostile; they consider them a menace to their food resources and safety of children. In Gabon, it is among the most frequently found small carnivores for sale in bushmeat markets. Upper Guinean forests in Liberia are considered a biodiversity hotspot. They have already been fragmented into two blocks. Large tracts are threatened by commercial logging and mining activities, and are converted for agricultural use including large-scale oil palm plantations in concessions obtained by a foreign company. References External links African