The scientific name for meerkats is suricata suricatta. A full-grown adult meerkat weighs 2 to 3 pounds.
When it stands up straight on its legs, it is only about 12 inches tall. Meerkats are mammals. Mammals are warm-blooded animals with backbones. The body heat of warm-blooded animals stays about the same.
Meerkats live together in a large group with up to 30 members. Meerkats spend much of their time lying in the sun. They lie on their backs. Meerkats may do this alone or in groups. Meerkats live in southern Africa, in countries such as South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe.
Meerkats live in flat, dry parts of these countries and many meerkats live in parts of the Kalahari Desert, one of the biggest deserts in the world.
Meerkats: members mogoose family
