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Image: Honey badger (Mellivora capensis).
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This page give details of the scientific classification of the honey badger, and lists the subspecies that have been described.
On this page: Classification | Subspecies | Related Badger Pages
The generally accepted classification for the honey badger is as follows:
Class : Mammalia (Mammals)
Family : Mustelidae (Weasels etc.)
Sub-family : Mellivorinae (Honey badgers)
Genus & species : Mellivora capensis (The honey badger)
The honey badger was first described by Schreber in 1776, and named as Viverra capensis , which placed it with the viverrids (the civets and mongooses) [ w005-09 ].
W. Chris Wozencraft [ w005-10 ] has suggested that Mellivora should be classified with the stoats, weasels and martens in the sub-family Mustelinae , and not in a sub-family of its own.
15 subspecies of the honey badger have been described over the years [ b006 , w178-01 ], but in most if not all cases there is little evidence to support the subspecies that have been proposed. A full list of the subspecies appears below, with notes as to where they occur where I have been able to find this information:
Find out about the classification and subspecies of:
The honey badger photo used at the head of this Article is © Tim Davis / Photo Researchers, Inc. Used with the permission of the (External) Northern Ohio Ferret Association . Credits for the photos used in the right-hand margin of this page for site navigation can be found on the Credits page.
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