''Meles'' is a genus of

badger Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by ...

s containing four living species known as Eurasian badgers, the

Japanese badger The Japanese badger (''Meles anakuma'') is a species of carnivoran of the family Mustelidae, the weasels and their kin. Endemic to Japan, it is found on Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Shōdoshima. It shares the genus '' Meles'' with its close re ...

(''Meles anakuma''),

Asian badger The Asian badger (''Meles leucurus''), also known as the sand badger, is a species of badger native to Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Korean Peninsula and Russia. Characteristics The Asian badger is mostly lighter in colour than ...

(''Meles leucurus''), Caucasian badger (''Meles canescens'') and

European badger The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to almost all of Europe. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List as it has a wide range and a large stab ...

(''Meles meles''). In an older categorization, they were seen as a single species with three subspecies (''Meles meles anakuma'', ''Meles meles leucurus'' and ''Meles meles meles''). There are also several extinct members of the genus. They are members of the subfamily

Melinae Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the family Mustelidae (which also includes the otters, wolverines, martens, minks, polecats, weasels, and ferrets). Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by the ...

of the weasel family,

Mustelidae The Mustelidae (; from Latin ''mustela'', weasel) are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, ferrets, martens, minks and wolverines, among others. Mustelids () are a diverse group and form the largest family in th ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Meles'' was erected by French zoologist

Mathurin Jacques Brisson Mathurin Jacques Brisson (; 30 April 1723 – 23 June 1806) was a French zoologist and natural philosopher. Brisson was born at Fontenay-le-Comte. The earlier part of his life was spent in the pursuit of natural history; his published works ...

in 1762 after

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his Nobility#Ennoblement, ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalise ...

had described the Eurasian badger ''

Meles meles The European badger (''Meles meles''), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to almost all of Europe. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List as it has a wide range and a large sta ...

'' in 1758. This animal had a very extensive range over most of temperate Europe and Asia and there has been much discussion as to whether it is a single or three distinct species. There are geographical differences between individuals from different parts of the range in skull structure,

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

of the first premolar teeth, and facial markings. Some authorities advocated placing European and Asian badgers in separate species, ''Meles meles'' and ''Meles leptorhynchus'' (Milne-Edwards, 1867), the boundary between the two being the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchme ...

. Others considered three subspecies, ''M. m. meles'' found west of the Volga, ''M. m. arenarius-leptorhynchus'' found between the Volga and

Transbaikalia Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia. The steppe and ...

, and ''M. m. amurensis-anakuma'' from the

Amur The Amur (russian: река́ Аму́р, ), or Heilong Jiang (, "Black Dragon River", ), is the world's tenth longest river, forming the border between the Russian Far East and Northeastern China ( Inner Manchuria). The Amur proper is long, ...

and Primorsky regions. Genetic studies of mitochondrial DNA show the separation of two variants on either side of the Volga but their exact taxonomic rank remains undefined. A further study of cheek teeth from individuals across the entire range supports this division and provides confirmation that ''M. meles'' and ''M. anakuma'' are indeed separate species.

Extant species

Fossils

A further species is ''Meles thorali'' from the late

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

, known only from fossil remains, specimens of which have been found at

Saint-Vallier, Drôme Saint-Vallier (; frp, Sent-Valiér) is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. It is an administrative, commercial and industrial town at the confluence of the rivers Galaure and Rhone. Geography The town is situated on the b ...

, in southeastern France and Binagady, in Azerbaijan. These have large cheek teeth and characteristics intermediate between ''M. meles'' and ''M. anakuma''. It is theorized that they were an ancestral species from which these two modern species diverged. Another extinct species from Europe is ''Meles hollitzeri'' from the Early Pleistocene, remains of which were found in Deutsch-Altenburg, in northeastern Austria, and Untermassfeld, in southeastern Germany.

References

Cited texts

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meles (Genus) Badgers Mammal genera Taxa named by Mathurin Jacques Brisson Extant Pleistocene first appearances