European Badger

Open encyclopedia reference

The European badger (Meles meles), also known as the Eurasian badger, is a species of badger in the family Mustelidae native to Europe and West Asia and parts of Central Asia. It is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List due to its wide range and large, stable population size which is thought to be increasing in some regions. Several subspecies are recognised, with the nominate subspecies (M. m. meles) predominating in most of Europe. In the UK it is the only extant species, and is simply known as the "badger". The European badger is a powerfully built animal with a small head, stocky body, small black eyes and short tail, and a coat of black, white, brown, and grey fur. Its weight varies, ranging from 7–13 kg (15–29 lb) in spring to 15–17 kg (33–37 lb) in autumn before the winter sleep period. It is nocturnal and social, living in burrows and sleeping during the day in one of several setts within its territory.

Wikipedia contributors, European badger; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T04:27:56.540266+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Meles meles (Linnaeus, 1758)

Name authority

(Linnaeus, 1758)

Common name

European Badger

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Carnivora

Family

Mustelidae

Genus

Meles

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderCarnivora Bowdich, 1821
12. suborderCaniformia Kretzoi, 1938
13. familyMustelidae G. Fischer von Waldheim, 1817
14. subfamilyMelinae Bonaparte, 1838
15. genusMeles Brisson, 1762
16. speciesMeles meles (Linnaeus, 1758)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Meles. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 58 records assigned to Mustelidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=621922 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:3ZDRX. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.