Fossa

Fossa is a genus in the family Eupleridae, the Malagasy carnivorans, containing a single living species, the Malagasy civet (Fossa fossana), endemic to Madagascar and found in lowland and rainforest areas of the island's eastern and northern regions from sea level to 1,600 meters. It is a small mammal about 47 centimeters long excluding the tail, weighing 1.5 to 2.0 kilograms, with a short greyish beige or brown coat marked by dark black horizontal stripes running from head to tail, and it is nocturnal. Despite the shared common name, this genus and its species are distinct from the larger carnivore popularly called the fossa, Cryptoprocta ferox, which the Malagasy civet ranks behind as Madagascar's second largest carnivore.