| Stink badgers[1] | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Sunda stink badger (M. javanensis) andPalawan stink badger (M. marchei) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mephitidae |
| Genus: | Mydaus Cuvier, 1821[2] |
| Type species | |
| Mydaus meliceps[3] | |
| Species | |
 | |
| Mydaus ranges | |
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Stink badgers orfalse badgers are the species of thegenusMydaus of the skunk family ofcarnivorans, theMephitidae. They resemble the better-known members of the familyMustelidae also termed 'badgers' (which are themselves apolyphyletic group). There are only two extant species – thePalawan stink badger orpantot (M. marchei), and theSunda stink badger orteledu (M. javanensis). They live west of theWallace Line; the Sunda species on islands of theGreater Sunda Islands, beingSumatra,Java, andBorneo; in Borneo the badger is found inIndonesia,Malaysia andBrunei. The Palawan species lives in thePhilippine island ofPalawan as well as the islands surrounding it.
Stink badgers are named for their resemblance to other badgers and for the foul-smelling secretions that they expel from anal glands in self-defense (which is stronger in the Sunda species).[4]
Stink badgers were traditionally thought to be related to Eurasianbadgers in thesubfamilyMelinae of the weasel family ofcarnivorans (theMustelidae), but recentDNA analysis indicates they share a more recent common ancestor withskunks, so experts have now placed them in the skunk family[4][5] (theMephitidae, which is thesister group of aclade composed of Mustelidae andProcyonidae, with thered panda also assigned to one of the sister clades[6]). The two existing species are different enough from each other for the Palawan stink badger to be sometimes classified in its own genus,Suillotaxus.[4]
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