Sun badger
| Sun badger | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Java sun badger ( Melogale orientalis ) |
||||||||||||
| Systematics | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the subfamily | ||||||||||||
| Helictidinae | ||||||||||||
| JE Gray , 1865 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Melogale | ||||||||||||
| I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire , 1831 |
The sun badgers ( Melogale ) are a genus of predators from the subfamily of the Helictidinae within the family of the marten (Mustelidae). The genus includes five species that live in Southeast Asia . They are not as closely related to the actual badgers as once assumed.
description
Sun badgers have long, bushy tails. Your physique is elongated and your legs are relatively short. Their coat color varies from gray-brown to dark brown, with the underside being a little lighter. A white or reddish stripe on the back and a striking black and white patterned face are characteristic. These animals reach a head body length of 33 to 43 centimeters, the tail is 15 to 23 centimeters long and their weight is 1 to 3 kilograms.
distribution and habitat
The distribution area of the sun badger stretches from eastern India and central China over the Malay Peninsula to Borneo and Bali . Their habitat is primarily forests, but sometimes they can also be found in grasslands.
Way of life
Sun badgers are crepuscular or nocturnal. During the day they retreat into natural hiding places or other animals' burrows; unlike other badgers, they do not dig their own burrows. At night they go in search of food, climbing trees and sometimes even resting in forks of branches. Little is known about their social behavior, they probably live solitary.
food
Sun badgers are omnivores that eat small vertebrates (mainly frogs and lizards), insects and worms as well as fruits and other parts of plants.
Reproduction
After a gestation period of around 60 days, the female gives birth to one to five (usually two) young animals. These become self-employed at around two to three months.
The species
- The Chinese sun badger ( Melogale moschata ) is common in central and southern China (including Taiwan and Hainan ), northeastern India, and northern Myanmar , Laos, and Vietnam .
- The Burmese sun badger ( Melogale personata ) is native to Myanmar and Vietnam to southern Thailand .
- The Java sun badger ( Melogale orientalis ) lives on the islands of Java and Bali . In some classifications it is only considered a subspecies of the Burmese sun roof.
- The Borneo sun badger ( Melogale everetti ) is only known from a small area in northern Borneo . According to the IUCN, the species is endangered ( vulnerable ).
- The Cuc Phuong sun badger ( Melogale cucphuongensis ) is only known from the Vietnamese national park Cúc Phương and was only described in 2011.
literature
- Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999 ISBN 0801857899
Individual evidence
- ↑ Nadler, Streicher, Stefen, Schwierz, Roos (2011): A new species of ferret-badger, Genus Melogale, from Vietnam. The Zoological Garden, Volume 80, Issue 5, 2011, pages 271–286, DOI: 10.1016 / j.zoolgart.2011.08.004
