Mydaus

Mydaus, commonly called the stink badgers or false badgers, is a genus in the skunk family Mephitidae, order Carnivora, named by Cuvier in 1821. Its members resemble the better-known badgers of the family Mustelidae but are more closely related to skunks based on DNA analysis, and were traditionally classified with Eurasian badgers before genetic evidence moved them to Mephitidae. The genus contains two living species named for their badger-like appearance and the foul-smelling secretions they expel from anal glands in self-defense: the Palawan stink badger (Mydaus marchei) and the Sunda stink badger (Mydaus javanensis), whose secretions are especially potent. They inhabit regions west of the Wallace Line in Southeast Asia, including Sumatra, Java and Borneo across Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, and the Philippine island of Palawan and its surrounding islands.