Meles

Meles is a genus of badger established in 1762, placed in the subfamily Melinae of the weasel family Mustelidae, and containing four living species commonly called Eurasian badgers: the European badger (Meles meles), the Asian badger (Meles leucurus), the Japanese badger (Meles anakuma), and the Caucasian badger (Meles canescens). European badgers range across Europe and parts of Asia west of the Volga River, Asian badgers occupy central and northern Asia east of the Volga, Japanese badgers are endemic to Japan outside Hokkaido, and Caucasian badgers have the broadest range of the four, from Transcaucasia through Central Asia to the Levant and Mesopotamia. Members of the genus are powerfully built animals with small heads, thick short necks, stocky wedge shaped bodies, short legs, and club shaped tails, with strong elongated claws for digging; coloration ranges from silvery grey to brownish grey with dark facial markings, and body length varies from about 60 to 90 centimeters in the largest species, the European badger, down to 60 to 80 centimeters in the smallest, the Japanese badger.