Meerkat
"Meerkat" is a loanword from Afrikaans (pronounced [ˈmɪərkat]). The name has a Dutch origin, but by misidentification. In Dutch, meerkat means the guenon, a monkey of the genus Cercopithecus. The word meerkat is Dutch for "lake cat", but although the suricata is a feliform, it is not of the cat family; the word possibly started as a Dutch adaptation of a derivative of Sanskrit markaṭa = "ape",perhaps in Africa via an Indian sailor on board a Dutch East India Company ship.
In early literature, suricates were referred as mierkat. In colloquial Afrikaans, mier means termite, and kat means cat. It has been speculated that the name comes from their frequent association with termite mounds or the termites they eat
The meerkat (Suricata suricatta) or suricate is a small carnivoran in the mongoose family. It is the only member of the genus Suricata.Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members. In captivity, meerkats have an average life span of 12–14 years, and about 6–7 years in the wild.
Meerkat
"Meerkat" is a loanword from Afrikaans (pronounced [ˈmɪərkat]). The name has a Dutch origin, but by misidentification. In Dutch, meerkat means the guenon, a monkey of the genus Cercopithecus. The word meerkat is Dutch for "lake cat", but although the suricata is a feliform, it is not of the cat family; the word possibly started as a Dutch adaptation of a derivative of Sanskrit markaṭa = "ape",perhaps in Africa via an Indian sailor on board a Dutch East India Company ship.
In early literature, suricates were referred as mierkat. In colloquial Afrikaans, mier means termite, and kat means cat. It has been speculated that the name comes from their frequent association with termite mounds or the termites they eat
The meerkat (Suricata suricatta) or suricate is a small carnivoran in the mongoose family. It is the only member of the genus Suricata.Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members. In captivity, meerkats have an average life span of 12–14 years, and about 6–7 years in the wild.