European Badger

European Badger
European Badger in captivity.
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Suborder:	Caniformia
Family:	{{{1}}}
Genus:	{{{1}}}
Species:	M. meles
Binomial name
Meles meles Linnaeus, 1758
European Badger range

Other names

Description

Similar species

Subspecies

As of 2005, eight subspecies are recognised.

Subspecies	Trinomial authority	Description	Range	Synonyms
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.	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) caninus (Billberg, 1827) caucasicus (Ognev, 1926) communis (Billberg, 1827) danicus (Degerbøl, 1933) europaeus (Desmarest, 1816) maculata (Gmelin, 1788) tauricus (Ognev, 1926) taxus (Boddaert, 1785) typicus (Barrett-Hamilton, 1899) vulgaris (Tiedemann, 1808)
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	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.	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	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

External links

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This article is part of Project Mammalia, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each mammal, including made-up species. This article is part of Project Carnivora, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each carnivoran, including made-up species. File:Longtailed Weasel.png This article is part of Project Mustelidae, a All Birds project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Mustelid, including made-up species.