Steve Jackson's
Badger Pages
Badger facts. Badger photos. The badgers of the world in words and pictures.
Part of Badgers on the Web .
Skip to site navigation
Skip to page navigation
Image: Burmese ferret badger (Melogale personata).
Home » Ferret badgers ( Melogale species) » Articles :
What does Melogale mean? What are ferret badgers called in German, Spanish or Chinese? These questions and more are answered here.
On this page: English names | Latin name | Names in other languages | Related Badger Pages
Presumably, these badgers take their name from their elongated, ferret-like form - they look much more like their weasel-like ancestors than do the other badgers. Alternatively, perhaps the black and white facial pattern (a little like that of the polecat, from which the ferret is derived) inspired their name. The third theory that I will put forward is that the ferret badgers were named because of their smell - like ferrets, and indeed other badgers, they produce unpleasant secretions from their anal glands.
Ferret badgers are sometimes referred to as tree badgers [ w042 ].
This species is also known as the small-toothed ferret badger [ b001 ] and the China ferret badger. The Taiwanese subspecies is often referred to as the Formosan ferret badger.
Also known as the large-toothed ferret badger [ b001 ] and the Burma ferret badger. The Javan subspecies, M. p. orientalis , which some believe to be a separate species M. orientalis [ b003-01 ], is also known as the Java or Javan ferret badger [ w015 , b004 ]. In those parts of Indonesia where this species occurs, the vernacular name is biul [ w260-09 ].
This species takes its name from the Indonesian island where it occurs.
This species was almost certainly named after (and possibly collected by) Victorian naturalist Alfred Hart Everett (1848-98), who collected mammals, birds and reptiles in Borneo and also published reports on the island's caves and volcanic phenomena. Several species of birds which share this ferret badger's island home have also been named after Everett. This species is also known as the Kinabalu ferret badger, as it is known only from Mount Kinabalu on Borneo.
The Latin name for this genus, Melogale, is derived from the Latin word for badger, meles, and the Greek word for marten or polecat, gale [ b005 ], hence the "polecat badger".
The specific name moschata comes from the New Latin moschatus ('musky'), which is itself derived from the Greek moskhos ('musk'), and is a reference to the animal's smell [ b005 ].
I have no information on the derivation of the scientific name personata .
The word orientalis means 'from the Orient', the suffix alis being Latin for 'relating to' [ b005 ].
The name everetti refers to the Victorian naturalist Everett (see above).
Ferret badgers are sometimes called pahmi [ w042 ]. This is presumably a native name, but I do not know from which country this originates.
The following, as far as I can tell, mean "ferret badger" rather than referring to any individual species:
Find out about the names of:
The Burmese ferret badger photo used at the head of this Article is © Mr Sawai Wanghongsa, and used with the kind permission of the (External) Royal Forest Department of Thailand . Credits for the photos used in the right-hand margin of this page for site navigation can be found on the Credits page.
Go to the Eurasian badger home page.
Go to the hog badger home page.
Go to the American badger home page.
Go to the ferret badgers home page.
Go to the honey badger home page.
Go to the stink badgers home page.
Go to the badgers of the world home page.
Buy badgery gifts and help badgers - select this link.
Text and images copyright © Steve Jackson except where otherwise stated.