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Prionodon linsang
Basic stats
Diet
Squirrels, rats, birds, lizards, insects, frogs, snakes, eggs
Habitat
Forest floor and low vegetation, coastal lowland to lower montane (to about 1,700m)
Range
Borneo, Sumatra, Peninsular Malaysia, Indochina
Litter size
Around 2 (commonly cited average 2.25)
Gestation period
Not well documented — reproduction in this species remains poorly studied
Size
Small (head-body 35–41cm, tail to 36cm)
Weight
~0.7kg
A slender, cat-like carnivore with five broad dark bands across a pale cream-to-yellow back and neck, and 7–8 dark bands on the tail — closely related to civets but built more like a weasel, with a flexible, elongated body and, unusually for this group, retractile claws similar to a cat's.
Sources genuinely disagree on whether this species is mainly nocturnal or diurnal/semi-arboreal, and no Borneo-specific camera-trap study has settled the question — treat its activity pattern as unresolved rather than confidently nocturnal. It crushes eggs and hard-bodied prey with its front paws. Least Concern (IUCN); uncommonly recorded on standard night drives, a good sighting rather than a routine one.
