The canine is more robust than in the brown-tailed mongoose.

The second molar is broad, but smaller than in the brown-tailed mongoose.

Based on these limited data, S. durrelli may be slightly smaller than the brown-tailed mongoose.

In contrast, the brown-tailed mongoose has narrower feet with more poorly developed pads.

It is reddish-brown overall, paler than the brown-tailed mongoose.

The underparts are reddish-buff, not brownish as in the brown-tailed mongoose.

The Ring-tailed and Brown-tailed Mongooses are also known to eat fruit.

The nearest occurrence of the brown-tailed mongoose is about 55 km (35 mi) from Alaotra.

Thus, S. durrelli occurs in a marsh habitat-quite different from the forest-dwelling brown-tailed mongoose.

Salanoia durrelli has a more robust dentition than the brown-tailed mongoose; the teeth have larger surface areas.

The first upper premolar is small, but the second and third are larger; these two teeth are shorter and broader than in the brown-tailed mongoose.

Salanoia durrelli most closely resembles the brown-tailed mongoose, which is a small, gracile mongoose-like carnivoran.

S. durrelli shows substantial morphological differences from the brown-tailed mongoose, but the mitochondrial DNA of the two species is very similar.

Brown-tailed Mongoose (Salanoia concolor)

Statistical analysis of measurements of the skulls and teeth strongly separates S. durrelli from specimens of the brown-tailed mongoose.

Salanoia durrelli: a carnivoran species related to the brown-tailed mongoose, from Lake Alaotra, Madagascar.

They are mongoose-like, which is reflected in the older versions of their English names, for example brown-tailed mongoose which is now called brown-tailed vontsira.

Salanoia durrelli was placed in the genus Salanoia, which previously included only the brown-tailed mongoose of eastern Madagascar.

It is most closely related to the brown-tailed mongoose (Salanoia concolor), with which it forms the genus Salanoia.

A small, reddish-brown carnivore, Salanoia durrelli is characterized by broad feet with prominent pads, reddish-buff underparts, and broad, robust teeth, among other differences from the brown-tailed mongoose.

Previously, local villagers had already reported the presence of a small carnivoran at Alaotra, and it was speculated that the animal was the closely related brown-tailed mongoose (Salanoia concolor).

Nesting behavior poses the biggest risk of predation, making them susceptible to carnivorous mammals, such as the ring-tailed mongoose (Galidia elegans) and brown-tailed mongoose (Salanoia concolor).

The brown-tailed mongoose was first described in 1837 by French zoologist Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire under the names Galidia unicolor and Galidia olivacea.

The brown-tailed mongoose, Malagasy brown-tailed mongoose, or salano (Salanoia concolor) is a species of mammal in the Eupleridae family.

S. durrelli may use its robust dentition to feed on prey with hard parts, such as crustaceans and molluscs, in addition to small vertebrates, rather than the insects that the more gracile-toothed brown-tailed mongoose eats.

Brown-tailed Mongoose (Salanoia concolor)

The brown-tailed mongoose, Malagasy brown-tailed mongoose, or salano (Salanoia concolor) is a species of mammal in the Eupleridae family.

Although Glover Morrill Allen, in 1939, still listed two species, which he called Salanoia olivacea and S. unicolor, by 1972 R. Albignac recognized a single species only, which he called Salanoia concolor.