Genetta genetta (Linnaeus 1758) [Viverra] genetta Linnaeus 1758, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., Vol. 1: 45. Type Locality: "oriente juxta rivos", restricted by Linnaeus (1766) to "oriente juxta rivos, Hispania", later listed by Thomas (1911 a) as " Spain ". Cabrera (1914), synonymizing G. peninsulae, further restricted the type locality to "El Pardo, cerca de Madrid " [Spain, El Pardo, near Madrid (40°32'N, 3°46'W)]. Vernacular Names: Common Genet. Subspecies:: Subspecies Genetta genetta subsp. genetta Linnaeus 1758 Subspecies Genetta genetta subsp. afra F. G. Cuvier 1825 Subspecies Genetta genetta subsp. dongolana Hemprich and Ehrenberg 1832 Subspecies Genetta genetta subsp. felina Thunberg 1811 Subspecies Genetta genetta subsp. senegalensis J. B. Fischer 1829 Distribution: Algeria, Angola, Arabia, Belgium, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Portugal, Senegal, Spain, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe. Conservation: IUCN – Vulnerable as G. g. isabelae, otherwise Lower Risk (lc). Discussion: Schlawe (1981) included afra, bonapartei, barbar, barbara, balearica, lusitanica, melas, peninsulae, pyrenaica, terraesanctae, rhodanica, and isabelae; and provisionally separated into G. felina the following: guardafuensis, hararensis, leptura, senegalensis, dongolana, granti, neumanni, bella, pulchra, and ludia, which are included here, following Crawford-Cabral (1966 a, 1969; 1981 a), Coetzee (1977 b), Smithers (1983), and Wozencraft (1984, 1989 b). Reviewed by Crawford-Cabral (1966 a, 1969, 1981 a), Schlawe (1981), and Larivière and Calzada (2001). Rosevear (1974) separated senegalensis from genetta. However, this was not followed by Coetzee (1977 b), Kingdon (1977), Ansell (1978), Crawford-Cabral (1981 a), or Wozencraft (1989 b). Synonyms allocated according to Ellerman et al. (1953), Schlawe (1981), Wozencraft (1984), and Larivière and Calzada (2001).

Published as part of Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Carnivora, pp. 532-628 in Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore :The Johns Hopkins University Press on page 555, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.7316519