Meerkat
Overview
The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members. In captivity, meerkats have an average life span of 12–14 years, and about half this in the wild. Meerkats are small burrowing animals, living in large underground networks with multiple entrances which they leave only during the day. They are very social, living in colonies averaging 20–30 members. Animals in the same group regularly groom each other to strengthen social bonds. The alpha pair often scent-mark subordinates of the group to express their authority, and this is usually followed by the subordinates grooming the alphas and licking their faces. This behavior is also usually practiced when group members are reunited after a short period apart. Most meerkats in a group are all siblings or offspring of the alpha pair
Skeletal System
The meerkat is a small diurnal herpestid (mongoose) weighing on average about 731 grams (1.612 lb) for males and 720 grams (1.59 lb) for females. Its long slender body and limbs give it a body length of 25 to 35 centimetres (9.8 to 13.8 in) and an added tail length of 17 to 25 centimetres (6.7 to 9.8 in). Like humans and many other birds and animals, felids (of which the tiger is one) have an endoskeleton, meaning that it is inside the body (as opposed to an external shell). Its skeleton comprises hard, strong bones held together by ligaments, rather than cartilaginous structures. The internal organs are then protected within this sturdy structure.