Talk:Meerkat

The name

It is stated that the word was loaned from Dutch but that is probably not correct. The word meerkat means guenon in Dutch and may have its origins in Sanskrit markata monkey. It probably came mean something else (a mongoose species) in cape Dutch => Afrikaans by misidentification. The English loan is Dutch.

nl:Gebruiker:Sokpopje

Removed not relevant nonsense. Genegaines 21:04, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

"Meerkats (Suricata suricatta) are known by a confusing array of common names: suricates, slender tailed or grey meerkats and stokstertjies (Afrikaans for 'stick-tail'). In fact, the name 'meerkat' derives from the Afrikaans for marsh cat, [...]" [MacDonald & Dennis 1999: page 8] --Scharrtier 18:30, 21 July 2007 (UTC)

* MacDonald, D. & Dennis, N. (1999): Meerkats. London: New Holland.

The name "meerkat" has a far more mundane origin. Both Dutch and Afrikaans share the word "more" in the form "meer". The "meer" in the name has nothing to do with water in any form - keep in mind that meerkats inhabit desert and semi-desert areas. The early Dutch settlers in South Africa did not quite know what to make of this odd animal, but decided that it is "meer kat dan hond" (i.e. "more cat than dog"), hence the name. "Stokstaartje" is the name currently used in Dutch.Jpr821 (talk) 08:03, 19 January 2011 (UTC)

• "More cat than dog" is in fact a very apt description as they belong to suborder Feliforma, which includes cats, mongooses, hyenas and civets but does NOT include canines. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.121.6.113 (talk) 18:35, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Meer in German means sea/ocean. Lake would be See. More in German has the same pronunciation as Meer but is spelled mehr. Just for clarification. 2003:DC:6739:7EB4:28F8:89E8:B74:26E (talk) 14:46, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 13 February 2015

FROM:

Meerkats have claws used for digging burrows and digging for prey.[11]

At the end of each of a meerkat's "fingers" is a claw used for digging burrows and digging for prey.[11]

TO:

At the end of each of a meerkat's "fingers" is a claw used for digging burrows and digging for prey.[11]

99.248.201.78 (talk) 05:18, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Done Stickee (talk) 05:57, 13 February 2015 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Environmental physiology

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 22 August 2022 and 5 December 2022. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): BioWiki4155 (article contribs). Peer reviewers: Kmerren, Waynnee.

— Assignment last updated by Jessicaphillips10 (talk) 01:16, 3 October 2022 (UTC)

Proposed sources to expand "Threats and conservation" section

Van de Ven, T. M. F. N., Fuller, A., Clutton-Brock, T. H. (2020). Effects of climate change on pup growth and survival in a cooperative mammal, the meerkat. Functional Ecology, 34, 192-202. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2435.13468

Paniw, M., Duncan, C., Groenewoud, F., Drewe, J. A., Manser, M., Ozgul, A., Clutton-Brock, T. (2022). Higher temperature extremes exacerbate negative disease effects in a social mammal. Nature Climate Change, 12, 284-290. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-022-01284-x BioWiki4155 (talk) 11:52, 23 September 2022 (UTC)

Improvement idea

I think this could use some more links. My chromebook is getting glitchy when I go past the lead, so I could use some help. Thanks! _{In solidarity}Wikipedian12512 (Talking is fine | contribs) 18:17, 30 May 2026 (UTC)