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Large-toothed Ferret Badger

Melogale personata

Summary 2

The Burmese ferret-badger (Melogale personata), also known as the large-toothed ferret-badger, is a species of mammal in the Mustelidae family.

Habitat and ecology 3

Habitat and Ecology

It is nocturnal and feeds primarily on small animals such as insects, earthworms, snails, frogs, and sometimes carcasses of small birds and mammals, eggs, and fruit (Chian and Sheng, 1976; Long and Killingley, 1983; Ewer, 1985; Neal, 1986; Chuang, 1994). This species sleeps during the day in its burrow, and comes out at night to feed on cockroaches, grasshoppers, and earthworms (Lekagul and McNeely 1977). It is found in forest, grassland, and even rice fields (Lekagul and McNeely 1977), but it is unclear in which habitats populations can persist; records from other habitats may involve sink populations or dispersing individuals. Not much is known about the breeding of this species, though it does have an average litter size of about three (Lekagul and McNeely 1977). This species is fossorial and lives in preexisting holes, rather than digging new ones (Taylor, 1989).In Lao PDR, little is known about the habitat use of this species (Duckworth et al. 1999). In Thailand, records were found in hill evergreen forests, pine forests and grasslands (Kanchanasaka pers. comm.).

Systems
  • Terrestrial

Physical description 4

Burmese ferret badgers are small weighing between 1 and 3 kg at maturity. Melogale personata have an elongated body that can reach a head and body length ranging from 330 mm to 430 mm long. They have bushy tails between 150 mm to 230 mm long. Their legs resemble a typical badger because they are short with broad paws and large claws used in digging. Melogale personata, like all ferret badgers, have partially webbed toes and ridges on the pads of their feet. These characteristics are believed to be adaptations for climbing. Melogale personata have grayish to brownish fur with a lighter fur on their underside. They have white heads with black markings including a black band across their muzzle and another across the forehead between their ears. Burmese ferret badgers have thinner black stripes on their face than the Chinese ferret badger. The white dorsal stripe of the Burmese ferret badger runs from its head to the base of the tail. This distinguishes it from the Chinese ferret badger because in the Chinese species the dorsal stripe does not reach the base of the tail (Jackson 2001).

Range mass: 1 to 3 kg.

Range length: 330 to 430 mm.

Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry

Fuentes y créditos

  1. (c) Mariomassone, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Burmese_ferret_badger.png
  2. Adaptado por Brian Martin del trabajo de (c) Wikipedia, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melogale_personata
  3. (c) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/28204646
  4. (c) The Regents of the University of Michigan and its licensors, algunos derechos reservados (CC BY-NC-SA), http://eol.org/data_objects/18657816

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