| Vontsira | |
|---|---|
| |
| Ring-tailed mongoose (Galidia elegans) | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Suborder: | Feliformia |
| Family: | Eupleridae |
| Subfamily: | Galidiinae Gray, 1865 |
| Genera | |
| |
| Galidiinae diversity | |
Galidiinae is a subfamily of carnivorans that is restricted to Madagascar and includes six species classified into four genera. Together with the three other species of indigenous Malagasy carnivorans, including the fossa, they are currently classified in the family Eupleridae within the suborder Feliformia.[1] Galidiinae are the smallest of the Malagasy carnivorans, generally weighing about 600 to 900 g. They are agile, short-legged animals with long, bushy ringed tails.[2]
They closely resemble the mongooses (family Herpestidae) of continental Africa and southern Eurasia, with which they were classified until 2006, and accordingly they are said to be "mongoose-like"[2] or even described as "Malagasy mongooses".[3] The Malagasy name vontsira is a common name or alias for many species.