horizontal photo of eurasian badger meles meles among bluebells in woods at night illuminated by flash
horizontal photo of eurasian badger meles meles among bluebells in woods at night illuminated by flash. Badger is the common name for any animal of three subfamilies, which belong to the family Mustelidae: the same mammal family as the ferrets, the weasels, the otters, and several other types of carnivore. There are 8 species of badger, in three subfamilies: Melinae (the Eurasian badgers), 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 evidence 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. Badgers are the largest indigenous carnivores in the United Kingdom. They are known to grow to a metre in length, but never more than 50 cm tall. The name badger is possibly derived from the word badge, on account of the marks on the head; or it may be identical with the term noted below, the French blaireau being used in both senses. An older term for "badger" is brock (Old English brocc), a Celtic loanword (Gaelic broc, Welsh broch, from Proto-Celtic brokko). The Proto-Germanic term was pahsu- (German Dachs), likely from the PIE root tek'- "to construct", so that the badger would have been named after its digging of setts (tunnels). The collective name for a group of badgers is a cete. Badgers are carnivorous and prey predominantly on pocket gophers (Geomyidae), ground squirrels (Spermophilus), moles (Talpidae), marmots (Marmota), prairie dogs (Cynomys), woodrats (Neotoma), kangaroo rats (Dipodomys), deer mice (Peromyscus), and voles (Microtus). They also
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Photo credit: © Michael Sayles / Alamy / Afripics
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