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The American badger is a member of the Mustelidae, a diverse family of carnivorous mammals that also includes weasels, otters, ferrets, and the wolverine. [4] The American badger belongs to the Taxidiinae, one of four subfamilies of mustelid badgers – the other three being the Melinae (four species in two genera, including the European badger), the Helictidinae (five species of ferret ...
The European badger (Meles meles), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a badger species in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia.It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it has a wide range and a large, stable population size which is thought to be increasing in some regions.
The European badger is one of the largest; the American badger, the hog badger, and the honey badger are generally a little smaller and lighter. Stink badgers are smaller still, and ferret-badgers are the smallest of all. They weigh around 9–11 kg (20–24 lb), while some Eurasian badgers weigh around 18 kg (40 lb). [4]
The genus Meles was erected by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1762 after Carl Linnaeus had described the Eurasian badger Meles meles 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.
Habitats vary widely as well, from the arboreal marten to the fossorial European badger to the marine sea otter. Population sizes are largely unknown, though two species, the sea mink and Japanese otter , were hunted to extinction in 1894 and 1979, respectively, and several other species are endangered .
In Britain, the main predator is the European badger. European hedgehog populations in the United Kingdom are lower in areas with many badgers, [15] and hedgehog rescue societies will not release hedgehogs into known badger territories. [16] Badgers also compete with hedgehogs for food. [17]
Below is the classification of how the extant families were related to each other after American paleontologist George Gaylord Simpson in 1945: [37] Order Carnivora Bowdich, 1821. Suborder Fissipedia Blumenbach, 1791. Superfamily Canoidea G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817. Family Canidae G. Fischer de Waldheim, 1817 – dogs
Mustela sibirica. COVID-19 can infect both the European mink (Mustela lutreola) and the American mink (Neogale vison).Ferrets are used to study COVID-19. [5] Ferrets get some of the same symptoms as humans, [6] but they get less sick than farmed mink. [7]