Meles thorali was described from Saint-Vallier in France by Viret (1950 I haven't seen the original description), and has since been recorded from Bulgaria and Lesbos (Lyras & van der Geer, 2007). Photo from the Museo de Prehistòria de València. Upper jaw of Meles thorali spelaeus, seen from below. The south-east Asian stink badgers of the genus Mydaus are related to the American skunks (which have been excluded from the Mustelidae as a separate family, Mephitidae), the American badger Taxidea taxus is sister to all other mustelids, while the ferret badgers ( Melogale) are closer to Mustela and otters.

Recent studies have shown that 'badgers' are a polyphyletic group, and they have been divided up accordingly (Koepfli et al., 2008). * Offhand, Meles and Arctonyx are now the only living members of the mustelid subfamily Melinae, which used to contain all the 'badgers' except the honey badger Mellivora capensis. gennevauxi loses its spot, the runner-up is the late Pliocene Meles thorali. Meles gennevauxi from Montpellier in France is known from the Lower Pliocene, but opinions differ as to whether this should be included in Meles or Arctomeles (a fossil genus related to Arctonyx Tedford & Harington, 2003 Arribas & Garrido, 2007). The genus Meles probably divided from the ancestors of its current living sister taxon, the hog badger Arctonyx collaris of south-east Asia, some time around the beginning of the Pliocene* (Tedford & Harington, 2003). However, both the two continental species include a number of subspecies, while genetic divergence overall is low, so this is an area that requires further investigation (Marmi et al., 2005). anakuma (the smallest species) in Japan (Abramov & Puzachenko, 2005). leucurus marginally overlapping in central Asia east of the Caspian), and M. leucurus in Asia east of the Volga (with M. meles in Europe and Russia west of the Volga river, M. Many authors recognise only a single modern species in the genus, Meles meles, but based on characters of the dentition, coloration and baculum morphology some authors have argued for the recognition of three species - M. Badger lifestyles are also varied - badgers in England may live in groups of up to thirty individuals, but in other parts of their range they are much more reclusive. They are burrowing omnivores, primarily feeding on worms, insects and other invertebrates but also quite willing to take plant matter and small vertebrates (the proportion of the diet made up by each varies from place to place). Reconstruction of Meles thorali from Lyras & van der Geer (2007).īadgers of the genus Meles are found throughout temperate Eurasia.

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