Greater grison

The greater grison, Galictis vittata, is a slender mustelid native to southern Mexico, Central America and South America, ranging south to central Brazil, Peru and Bolivia. It has short legs, a long neck and a short bushy tail, and is told from the closely related lesser grison by its greater size, with a head and body length of 45 to 60 centimetres and a weight of 1.5 to 3.8 kilograms in the wild. The back, flanks, top of the head and tail are grizzled grey while the rest of the body is much darker, usually black, with a narrow whitish stripe between the two. It inhabits forest and cerrado, usually near rivers and streams and mostly below 500 metres. Greater grisons are mostly diurnal, live alone or in pairs at very low density, and eat largely small vertebrates such as fish, amphibians, birds and other mammals. They have lived at least 10 years in captivity.