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Fossa — printable fact sheet
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Animal Fact Sheet
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Fossa
Cryptoprocta ferox
The fossa is Madagascar's largest predator and looks like a cat that has been stretched, but it is not a cat at all — its closest relatives are the mongooses, and it descends from a single carnivore lineage that reached the island and diversified in isolation. It is an evolution…
Did you know?
- Fossas are the only predators on Madagascar capable of preying regularly on adult lemurs, giving them a crucial role in the island's ecosystem.
- It is Madagascar's top predator, and it is not a cat — its closest relatives are the mongooses. Its ankles rotate so far that it can run headfirst down a tree trunk and hang from a branch by its back feet. That means a lemur fleeing upward into the canopy is not escaping. Females occupy a specific tree branch to mate, sometimes for a week, and the same trees are used by generations.
What I learned
Draw the fossa
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