Vietnam ferret-badger
Vietnam ferret-badger | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Mustelidae |
Genus: | Melogale |
Species: | M. cucphuongensis
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Binomial name | |
Melogale cucphuongensis T. Nadler, 2011
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The Vietnam ferret-badger (Melogale cucphuongensis) is a member of the family Mustelidae native to Vietnam. It was described in 2011 and is known from only two specimens.
Taxonomy
The Vietnam ferret-badger is a member of the genus
Discovery
In March 2005, a living ferret-badger that looked different from all known ferret-badger species was confiscated by rangers from Cúc Phương National Park in Vietnam. This animal died and the carcass was disposed of. A year later, in January 2006, a freshly dead individual of the same phenotype was found at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center (EPRC) in Cúc Phương National Park. Due to several markedly different characteristics (namely its dark brown head and body, its black and white stripe running from its neck to its shoulders, and the shape of its skull), these specimens were assigned to a new species.[2]
Distribution and habitat
The only two specimens known come from a site that consists of a compound of buildings in a degraded lowland evergreen forest fringe (second specimen) and from a location near it (first specimen), in the Cúc Phương National Park in Northern Vietnam, in the
Conservation
The Vietnam ferret-badger is currently classified as
References
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ .