parent_taxon salanoia
A habitat is an ecological or environmental ___MASK89___ that is inhabited by a particular species of animal , ___MASK23___ , or other type of organism . The term typically refers to the zone in which the organism lives and where it can find food , shelter , protection and mates for reproduction . It is the natural environment in which an organism lives , or the physical environment that surrounds a species population . In paleogeography , Gondwana , also Gondwanaland , is the name given to an ancient supercontinent . It is believed to have sutured between about 573 and 510 million years ago ( ___MASK72___ ), joining East Gondwana to West Gondwana . Gondwana formed prior to Pangaea , and later became part of it . ___MASK70___ is a family of carnivorans endemic to Madagascar and comprising 10 known living species in seven genera , commonly known as euplerids , or malagasy mongooses . The best known species is the ___MASK4___ (" Cryptoprocta ferox "), in the subfamily Euplerinae . All species of Euplerinae were formerly classified as viverrids , while all species in the subfamily ___MASK91___ were classified as herpestids . In geology , a supercontinent is the assembly of most or all of Earth ' s continental blocks or cratons to form a single large landmass . However , the definition of a supercontinent can be ambiguous . Many earth scientists , such as P . F . Hoffman ( 1999 ), use the term " supercontinent " to mean " a clustering of nearly all continents ". This definition leaves room for interpretation when labeling a continental body and is easier to apply to Precambrian times . Using the first definition provided here , Gondwana ( a . k . a . Gondwanaland ) is not considered a supercontinent , because the landmasses of Baltica , ___MASK66___ and Siberia also existed at the same time but physically separate from each other . The landmass of Pangaea is the collective name describing all of these continental masses when they were in proximity to one another . This would classify Pangaea as a supercontinent . According to the definition by Rogers and Santosh ( 2004 ), a supercontinent does not exist today . Supercontinents have assembled and dispersed multiple times in the geologic past ( see table ). The positions of continents have been accurately determined back to the early Jurassic . However , beyond , continental positions are much less certain . ___MASK60___ is a genus of euplerid carnivoran with two currently described species found in 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 . The name ___MASK60___ is derived from one of the vernacular names for ___MASK60___ concolor : Salano . In 2010 , the two described members of the genus were referred to by the common name vontsira in announcements of the discovery of ___MASK60___ durrelli . Vontsira is a Malagasy vernacular name that seems to apply to a few local species of local mongoose - like carnivores in the related genera ___MASK60___ , Galidia , and Galidictis The brown - tailed mongoose , Malagasy brown - tailed mongoose , or salano (" ___MASK60___ concolor ") is a species of ___MASK29___ in the family ___MASK70___ . It is endemic to Madagascar . Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests . It is threatened by habitat loss . Madagascar , officially the Republic of Madagascar , and previously known as the Malagasy Republic , is an island country in the Indian Ocean , off the coast of Southeast Africa . The nation comprises the island of Madagascar ( the fourth - largest island in the world ), and numerous smaller peripheral islands . Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana , Madagascar split from the Indian peninsula around 88 million years ago , allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation . Consequently , Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot ; over 90 % of its wildlife is found nowhere else on Earth . The island ' s diverse ecosystems and unique wildlife are threatened by the encroachment of the rapidly growing ___MASK17___ population and other environmental threats . India , officially the Republic of India (" Bhrat Gaarjya "), is a country in South Asia . It is the seventh - largest country by ___MASK89___ , the second - most populous country ( with over 1 . 2 billion people ), and the most populous democracy in the world . It is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south , the Arabian Sea on the southwest , and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast . It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west ; China , Nepal , and Bhutan to the northeast ; and Myanmar ( Burma ) and Bangladesh to the east . In the Indian Ocean , India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives . India ' s Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand and Indonesia . Its capital is New Delhi ; other metropolises include Mumbai , Kolkata , Chennai , Bangalore , Hyderabad and Ahmedabad . Mammals are any vertebrates within the class Mammalia ( from Latin " mamma " " breast "), a clade of endothermic amniotes distinguished from reptiles and birds by the possession of a neocortex ( a region of the brain ), hair , three middle ear bones and mammary glands . The sister group of mammals may be the extinct " Haldanodon ." The mammals represent the only living Synapsida , which together with the ___MASK22___ form the ___MASK18___ clade . The mammals consist of the Yinotheria including monotrema and the ___MASK9___ including the theria .