SYSTEMATICS AND PHYLOGENY OF THE EURASIAN BADGER

SYSTEMATICS POSITION: CLASS: Mammalia ORDER: Carnivora FAMILY: Mustelidae SUBFAMILY: Melinae GENUS: Meles Brisson, 1762 SPECIES: Meles meles (Linnaeus, 1758) SYN.: Ursus meles L.Syst.Nat. I.p.70, 1766 locus tipicus: Upsala (Svezia)

SUBSPECIES

There are 23 described subspecies, however much of them are considered only geographic breeds; the most important are showed in the following table.

In Italy the badger is absent from Sicily and Sardinia, on the Italian peninsula occur the typical subspecies Meles meles meles (L., 1758).

PHYLOGENY

The Eurasian badger belong to the tribe melinae, which came from genus Martes at the end of Miocene. It includes six genera: Meles (the Eurasian badger); Arctonyx (the hog badger); Mydaus (the Indonesian stink badger or teledu); Suillotaxus (the Palawan stink badger); Melogale (the ferret badger); Taxidea (the American badger).

Literature

Some reference texts on badgers and mustelids:

• CLARK M., 1988 - Badgers - Whittet Books, London.
• HENRY C., LAFONTAINE L. & MOUCHES A., 1988 - Encyclopedie des Carnivores de France: Le Blaireau, vol.7 - Soc.Franc.Etude et Prot.Mammiferes, Nort s/Erdre.
• KRUUK H., 1989 - The social badger - Oxford University Press, Oxford.
• NEAL E. & CHEESEMAN C., 1996 - Badgers - T & A D Poyser ltd, London, p. 271.
• PETTER G., 1971 - Origine, phylogenie et systematique des blaireaux - Mammalia, 35, pp. 567-597.
• PRIGIONI, C. 1986. Il tasso. Oasis 2:56-67.
• TOSCHI A., 1965 - Fauna d'Italia. Vol. VII - Mammalia - Calderini, Bologna.

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