- Stink badger
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Stink badgers[1] 
M. javanensis Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Mephitidae Genus: Mydaus
Cuvier, 1821Species 
Mydaus ranges 
Skull and dentition, as illustrated in Gervais' Histoire naturelle des mammifères
Mydaus is a genus of Old World carnivore comprising two species of stink badger. There are two species - the Palawan stink badger (M. marchei), and the Sunda stink badger or Teledu (M. javanensis). Stink badgers are named for the foul-smelling secretions that they expel from anal glands in self-defense (which is stronger in the Sunda species).[2]
Stink badgers were traditionally thought to be related to true badgers in the family Mustelidae (subfamily Melinae), but recent DNA analysis strongly suggests they are Old World counterparts to the New World skunks, and as such should be placed in the family Mephitidae.[2][3]
The Palawan stink badger is sometimes classified in its own genus, Suillotaxus.[2]
References
- ^ Wilson, Don E.; Reeder, DeeAnn M., eds (2005). Mammal Species of the World (3rd ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2 vols. (2142 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494. http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3/browse.asp?id=14001566.
- ^ a b c Stink badgers at the Badger Pages
- ^ Koepfli KP, Deere KA, Slater GJ, et al. (2008). "Multigene phylogeny of the Mustelidae: resolving relationships, tempo and biogeographic history of a mammalian adaptive radiation". BMC Biol. 6 (1): 4–5. doi:10.1186/1741-7007-6-10. PMC 2276185. PMID 18275614. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2276185.
Categories:- Skunks
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