European Badger | |
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European Badger in captivity. | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Suborder: | Caniformia |
Family: | Mustelidae |
Genus: | Meles |
Species: | M. meles |
Binomial name | |
Meles meles Linnaeus, 1758 | |
File:European Badger area.png | |
European Badger range |
Other names[]
Description[]
Similar species[]
Subspecies[]
As of 2005[update],[2] eight subspecies are recognised.
Subspecies | Trinomial authority | Description | Range | Synonyms |
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Common badger Meles meles meles |
Linnaeus, 1758 | A large subspecies with a strongly developed sagittal crest, it has a soft pelage and relatively dense underfur. The back has a relatively pure silvery-grey tone, while the main tone of the head is pure white. The dark stripes are wide and black, while the white fields fully extend along the upper and lateral parts of the neck. It can weigh up to 20–24 kg in autumn, with some specimens attaining even larger sizes.[3] | All Europe, save for Rhodes, Crete and Spain. Its eastern range encompasses the European area of the former Soviet Union eastward to the Volga, Crimea, Ciscaucasia, and the northern Caucasus | alba (Gmelin, 1788) britannicus (Satunin, 1905) |
Cretan badger Meles meles arcalus |
Miller, 1907 | Crete | ||
Trans-Caucasian badger Meles meles canascens |
Blanford, 1875 | A small subspecies with a dirty-greyish back with brown highlights, its head is identical to Meles m. meles, though with weaker crests, and its upper molars are elongated in a similar way to the Asian badger[4] | Transcaucasia, Kopet Dag, Turkmenia, Iran, Afghanistan and possibly Asia Minor | minor (Satunin, 1905) ponticus (Blackler, 1916) |
Kizlyar badger Meles meles heptneri |
Ognev, 1931 | A large subspecies, it exhibits several traits of the Asian badger, namely its very pale, dull, dirty-greyish-ocherous colour and narrow head stripes.[4] | Steppe region of northeastern Ciscaucasia, the Kalmytsk steppes and the Volga delta | |
Iberian badger Meles meles marianensis |
Graells, 1897 | Iberian Peninsula | mediterraneus (Barrett-Hamilton, 1899) | |
Norwegian badger Meles meles milleri |
Baryshnikov, Puzachenko and Abramov, 2003 | A small subspecies | South-west Norway | |
Rhodes badger Meles meles rhodius |
Festa, 1914 | Rhodes | ||
Fergana badger Meles meles severzovi |
Heptner, 1940 | A small subspecies with a relatively pure, silvery-grey back with no yellow sheen. The head stripes are wide and occupy the whole ear. Its skull exhibits several features which are transitory between the Asian and European badger[4] | Right tributary region of the Panj River, the upper Amu Darya, Pamiro-Alay system, the Fergana Valley and its adjoining southern and mountains | bokharensis (Petrov,1953) |
Behaviour[]
Diet[]
Calls[]
Reproduction[]
Distribution/habitat[]
References[]
- ^ Kranz, A., Tikhonov, A., Conroy, J., Cavallini, P., Herrero, J., Stubbe, M., Maran, T., Fernades, M., Abramov, A. & Wozencraft, C. (2008). Meles meles. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 21 March 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
- ^ Template:MSW3 Wozencraft
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1253–1254
- ^ a b c Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1254–1255
External links[]
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