Hose's Mongoose is a subspecies

Subspecies

Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...

 of the Short-tailed Mongoose

Short-tailed Mongoose

The Short-tailed Mongoose is a species of mongoose that lives in the rainforests of Southeast Asia.The species is red-brown to black, with black limbs. The head is more grayish, with a black spot on the chin. This species has a total length of 60 to 65 cm and a weight of about 1.4 kg...

, but it is sometimes considered a separate species instead, Herpestes hosei. It is only known from a single specimen

Specimen

A specimen is a portion/quantity of material for use in testing, examination, or study.BiologyA laboratory specimen is an individual animal, part of an animal, a plant, part of a plant, or a microorganism, used as a representative to study the properties of the whole population of that species or...

, an adult female taken in the Baram district, Sarawak

Sarawak

Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...

, Malaysia, in 1893. Apart from having reddish brown short hair, straighter claws and more slender, smaller skull with a less rounded coronoid process

Coronoid process

The Coronoid process can refer to:* The coronoid process of the mandible, part of the ramus mandibulae of the mandible...

on the lower jaw, it resembles other subspecies of the Short-tailed Mongoose.