Euplerids[1]
Fossa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Feliformia
Family:	Eupleridae Chenu, 1850
Subfamilies
Euplerinae Galidiinae
File:Eupleridae range.png
Eupleridae subfamily ranges
Synonyms
Euplerini Simpson, 1945 Cryptoproctina Gray, 1864 Galidiina Gray, 1864 Cryptoproctidae Flower, 1869 Galidiinae Gill, 1872 Galidictinae Mivart, 1882 Cryptoproctinae Trouessart, 1885 Fossinae Pocock, 1915

The family Eupleridae is a group of carnivorans endemic to Madagascar and comprising 10 known species in seven genera. Probably the best known species is the Fossa (Cryptoprocta ferox), in the subfamily Euplerinae. All species of Euplerinae were formerly classified as viverrids, while all species in the subfamily Galidiinae were classified as herpestids.

Recent molecular studies indicate that the eight living species of Madagascar carnivorans evolved from one ancestor that is thought to have rafted over from mainland Africa 18-24 million years ago. This makes Malagasy carnivorans a clade. They are closely allied with the true herpestid mongooses, their closest living relatives.^[2] The Fossa and the Malagasy Civet (Fossa fossana) are believed to be the most ancient surviving species within this group.

All Eupleridae are considered threatened species due to habitat destruction, as well as predation and competition from non-native species.^[3]

Taxonomy and phylogeny[link]

Historically, the relationships of the Madagascar carnivorans have been contentious, but molecular evidence suggests they form a single clade, now recognized as the family Eupleridae.^[4][5] The hyena family Hyaenidae is a sister taxon of the euplerid and herpestid clade, and when grouped together with the viverrids and felids as well as some smaller groups forms the feliform (cat-like carnivores) clade.^[6][7]

The evolutionary divergence between the herpestids and the euplerids dates back to the Oligocene,^[7] at a time feliforms shared many similarities, particularly between the cats and the viverrids. Palaeoprionodon (within superfamily Aeluroidea), found in Europe and Asia from the late Eocene or early Oligocene, looked similar to the modern Fossa, while Proailurus, an extinct form of cat, exhibited many viverrid-like characteristics.^[8] Despite these similarities in the fossil record, the modern Malagasy carnivores are distinctly different, with subfamily Euplerinae and the subfamily Galidiinae bearing similarities with civets and mongooses respectively.^[6] Euplerinae (including the Fossa, Falanouc, and Malagasy Civet) has auditory regions similar to those of viverrids, while Galidiinae has auditory regions similar to those of herpestids. Based on this trait, Robert M. Hunt Jr. proposed in 1996 that Madagascar was colonized twice, once by viverrids and once by herpestids. The genetic studies by Yoder and colleagues in 2003 suggested a single colonization event by a primitive herpestid ancestor, followed quickly by adaptive radiation. The common ancestor arrived from Africa, probably by rafting, during the late Oligocene or early Miocene (24–18 mya),^[6][7] though Philippe Gaubert and Veron estimated a divergence date of 19.4 mya (16.5–22.7 mya).^[7][9]

• Family Eupleridae
  • Subfamily Euplerinae
    • Fossa, Cryptoprocta ferox
    • Giant Fossa, Cryptoprocta spelea (extinct)
    • Eastern Falanouc, Eupleres goudotii
    • Western Falanouc, Eupleres major
    • Malagasy Civet, Fossa fossana
  • Subfamily Galidiinae
    • Ring-tailed Mongoose, Galidia elegans
    • Broad-striped Malagasy Mongoose, Galidictis fasciata
    • Grandidier's Mongoose, Galidictis grandidieri
    • Narrow-striped Mongoose, Mungotictis decemlineata
    • Brown-tailed Mongoose, Salanoia concolor
    • Durrell's Mongoose, Salanoia durrelli

See also[link]

• List of mammals of Madagascar

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikispecies has information related to: Eupleridae

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eupleridae

Armand Denis (2 December 1896 – 15 April 1971) was a Belgian-born documentary film-maker. After several decades of pioneering work in filming and presenting the ethnology and wildlife of remote parts of Africa and Asia, he became best known in Britain as the director and co-presenter of natural history programmes on television in the 1950s and 1960s, with his second wife Michaela.

Life[link]

Childhood and early career as a scientist and inventor[link]

He was born in Brussels, Belgium^[1] (though the family moved to Antwerp soon after his birth), the son of a judge, and developed an interest in travel and the natural world as a child. He fought in the First World War before escaping to England, where he read chemistry at Oxford University.^[2] He worked at the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough on lubricating oils, and then in Belgium on coke oven technology, before moving to the USA.^[3] There, in 1926, he invented a system of automatic volume control for radio, and the royalties he received allowed him to indulge his love of travel and movie-making.^[4]

First success as a film-maker[link]

Original poster for Wild Cargo

After moving to Hollywood he worked as a cameraman, and began film-making with André Roosevelt, a first cousin once-removed of Theodore Roosevelt. In 1928, Denis and Roosevelt traveled to Bali to make Goona Goona (also known as The Kriss), a compilation of authentic expedition footage with a dramatic plotline involving a romance between a Balinese prince and a servant girl. The movie was first released in 1930 and in a version called Love Powder, edited to conform to American censorship restrictions, in 1932. It started a craze for all things Balinese, and "Goona-goona", originally a Javanese term for love magic, became a slang expression for "sexually exciting".^[5][6] The film’s success brought Denis to the attention of the cinema industry, and in 1934 he directed Wild Cargo, starring adventurer and animal collector Frank Buck.^[7][8]

Work with Leila Roosevelt Denis[link]

Denis married André Roosevelt’s daughter Leila; they went on to have four children (Rene, David, Armand & Heidi Ann). In 1934-35, sponsored by the Belgian government, the couple travelled to the (then) Belgian Congo with the cinematographer Leroy G. Phelps, to record sound film material suitable for use in African movies. They recorded a wide variety of footage, including the first film of the music and dances of the Mangbetu and Tutsi (Watusi) peoples. The soundtracks were released as commercial recordings, and the movie material, from the Congo and the Sahara, was edited for release as Wheels Across Africa in 1936.

Armand and Leila continued to work together on short documentaries through the late 1930s, and in 1944 put together the movie Dangerous Journey covering their travels in Africa, India and Burma.^[9]

Armand and Michaela[link]

However, in 1948, Armand Denis met British dress designer Michaela Holdsworth in New York. They began an affair and, after he and Leila divorced, Armand and Michaela married in Bolivia.^[10]

In order to finance their independent work, the couple travelled to Africa in 1950 to work on the feature film, King Solomon's Mines, in which Michaela acted as Deborah Kerr's double. In 1953 they made a new film together, Below The Sahara, and appeared on BBC radio to promote it. The BBC saw the couple's potential for television work, and in 1954 they produced a successful TV programme, Filming Wild Animals.

The quality of Armand Denis' film-making, combined with his heavy accent and Michaela's enthusiasm and glamorous appeal, made them fixtures on BBC TV screens during the 1950s and early 1960s, revolutionising wildlife documentaries on television. They made several series for both BBC and ITV, including Filming In Africa (1955), Armand and Michaela Denis (1955–58), On Safari (1957–59), and Safari to Asia (1959–61), which were repeated until well into the 1960s.^[2] Their early collaborations relied on the couple travelling alone in a Land Rover with technical equipment, presenting material in a style that was much parodied, but in later series it became clear that they used a team of cameramen.^[11]

In January 1963, Armand Denis was the first editor of Animals magazine, which later became BBC Wildlife.^[12]

Later life[link]

The couple made their home in Nairobi, Kenya. Armand Denis published an autobiography, On Safari: the story of my life in 1963. He died from Parkinson's disease in 1971.^[10]

Filmography[link]

1930 Goona Goona (also known as The Kriss) (with André Roosevelt)

1934 Wild Cargo (Frank Buck’s second movie)

With Leila Roosevelt Denis[link]

1936 Wheels Across Africa

1937 Wheels Across India

1938 Magie Africaine (also known as Dark Rapture)

1941 Bring 'Em Back Alive

1941 Jungle Cavalcade (Frank Buck’s fourth movie)

1944 Dangerous Journey

1949 Savage Splendor

With Michaela Denis[link]

1953 Below The Sahara

1954 Armand and Michaela Denis Under The Southern Cross

1955 Armand and Michaela Denis Among The Headhunters

1955 Armand and Michaela Denis On The Barrier Reef

Bibliography[link]

• Taboo, Berkley Books, 1966

References[link]