Sunda stink badger

The Sunda stink badger (Mydaus javanensis), also called the Javan stink badger, teledu, Malay stink badger and Indonesian stink badger, is a mammal native to Indonesia and Malaysia. Despite the common name, they are not closely related to true badger, and are, instead, Old World relatives of the skunks.

Description

Sunda stink badgers have a similar body shape to badgers, but are significantly smaller, being 37 to 52 cm (15 to 20 in) in total length, and weighing from 1.3 to 3.6 kg (2.9 to 7.9 lb). Their fur is coarse, and black or very dark brown over most of the body, with a white stripe running from the top of the head to the tail. The tail is short, measuring about 3.6 cm (1.4 in), and is covered in pure white fur. The width of the stripe varies considerably between individuals, but is usually narrow, and may be discontinuous. As the name indicates, stink badgers have an anal scent gland that secretes a foul-smelling substance, which the animal can spray up to 15 cm (5.9 in). Females have six teats.

Stink badger

Stink badgers (Mydaus) are a genus of mammals belonging to the skunk family or Mephitidae, not being true badgers. There are only two extant species - the Palawan stink badger (M. marchei), and the Sunda stink badger or Teledu (M. javanensis). They live only on western islands of the Malay Archipelago: Sumatra, Java, Borneo and (in the case of the Palawan stink badger) on the Philippine island of Palawan; as well as many other, smaller islands in the region.

Stink badgers are named for their resemblance to badgers and for the foul-smelling secretions that they expel from anal glands in self-defense (which is stronger in the Sunda species).

Stink badgers were traditionally thought to be related to true badgers in the (subfamily Melinae) of the weasel family of carnivores, the Mustelidae, but recent DNA analysis so strongly suggests they share a more recent common ancestor with skunks that experts have now placed them in the skunk family of carnivores, the Mephitidae. The two existing species are different enough from each other for the Palawan stink badger to be sometimes classified in its own genus, Suillotaxus.