Original investigationJavan mongoose or small Indian mongoose-who is where?

The Javan mongoose Urva javanica and the small Indian mongoose Urva auropunctata have been recently shown not to be conspecific. However, the limits of their respective distribution ranges have not been fully defined. In particular, Chinese populations were not attributed to either species using molecular data. Furthermore, the small mongooses found on Hong Kong Island (discovered at the end of the 1980s) were not clearly attributed to U. auropunctata or U. javanica, nor their status (native or introduced) established. The main aims of this study were to: (1) investigate the intraspecific genetic diversity and structure within these two species; and (2) clarify the distribution limits of U. auropunctata and U. javanica, and in particular, to identify Chinese populations, and determine which species occurs on Hong Kong Island (and whether they are native or introduced). The analyses of one nuclear and three mitochondrial genes confirmed the separation of U. javanica and U. auropunctata, and showed that the populations from southern China and Hong Kong Island belong to U. javanica. The intraspecific geographical structure of the two species is clarified, and the taxonomic implications are discussed. In particular, we found a strong divergence of Javan individuals of U. javanica, which should be considered a separate subspecies.