Badger is the common name for a specific group of carnivorous mammals, which belong to the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, ferrets, wolverines, and relatives. There are eight species of badger, in three subfamilies: Melinae (badgers of Europe and Asia – see links in species list]] below), Mellivorinae (the [[Ratel or honey badger), and Taxideinae (the American badger). The Asiatic stink badgers of the genus Mydaus were formerly included in the Melinae, but recent genetic evidenceFact: date=November 2008 indicates that these are actually Old World relatives of the skunks (family Mephitidae).
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Badger is the common name for a specific group of carnivorous mammals, which belong to the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, ferrets, wolverines, and relatives. There are eight species of badger, in three subfamilies: Melinae (badgers of Europe and Asia – see links in species list]] below), Mellivorinae (the [[Ratel or honey badger), and Taxideinae (the American badger). The Asiatic stink badgers of the genus Mydaus were formerly included in the Melinae, but recent genetic evidenceFact: date=November 2008 indicates that these are actually Old World relatives of the skunks (family Mephitidae).
Typical badgers (Meles, Arctonyx, Taxidea and Mellivora species) are short-legged and heavy-set. The lower jaw is articulated to the upper by means of a transverse condyle firmly locked into a long cavity of the cranium, so that dislocation of the jaw is all but impossible. This enables the badger to maintain its hold with the utmost tenacity, but limits its jaw movement to hingeing opening and shutting or sliding from side to side.
Etymology
The derivation of the word badger is uncertain. It possibly comes from the French word blaireau: "corn-hoarder", or from the French word bêcheur (digger), introduced during William the Conqueror's reign. The Oxford English Dictionary, however, states that the most likely derivation is from badge + -ard, in reference to the white mark borne like a badge on its forehead. Online at http://dictionary.oed.com (subscription required).
An older term for "badger" is brock (Old English brocc), a Celtic loanword (Gaelic broc, Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic *brokko) meaning grey. The Proto-Germanic term was *þahsu- (German Dachs), probably from the PIE root *tek'- "to construct," so that the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels).
A male badger is a boar, a female a sow and a young badger is a cub. The collective name for a group of badgers is a clan, colony, or cete.
Classification
- Family Mustelidae
- Subfamily Melinae
- Hog Badger, Arctonyx collaris
- Burmese Ferret-badger, Melogale personata
- Javan Ferret-badger, Melogale orientalis
- Chinese Ferret-badger, Melogale moschata
- Bornean Ferret-badger, Melogale everetti
- European Badger, Meles meles
- Subfamily Mellivorinae
- Honey Badger or Ratel, Mellivora capensis
- Subfamily Taxideinae:
- †Chamitataxus avitus
- †Pliotaxidea nevadensis
- †Pliotaxidea garberi
- American Badger, Taxidea taxus
- (Subfamily Mustelinae: weasels, martens, polecats and allies)
- Family Mephitidae
- Indonesian or Sunda Stink Badger (Teledu), Mydaus javanensis
- Palawan Stink Badger, Mydaus marchei
