Mydaus
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| Stink Badgers | ||||||||||||
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.jpg/180px-Brehms_Het_Leven_der_Dieren_Zoogdieren_Orde_4_Stinkdas_(Mydaus_meliceps).jpg) M. javanensis
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Mydaus is a genus of Old World carnivore comprising of two species of stink badger. There are two species - the Palawan Stink Badger (M. marchei), and the Javan 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 Javan species).[1]
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.[1][2]
The Palawan Stink Badger is sometimes classified in its own genus, Suillotaxus.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ 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:. PMID 18275614.
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