 | This article may be too technical for most readers to understand. (September 2016) |
| Spotted skunk | |
|---|---|
| |
| Southern spotted skunk (S. angustifrons), western spotted skunk (S. gracilis) and eastern spotted skunk (S. putorius). | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mephitidae |
| Genus: | Spilogale Gray, 1865[1] |
| Type species | |
| Mephitis interrupta[2] Linnaeus, 1758
| |
| |
| Spotted skunk ranges | |
The genus Spilogale includes all skunks commonly known as spotted skunks. Currently, there are four accepted extant species: S. gracilis, S. putorius, S. pygmaea, and S. angustifrons.[3] New research, however, proposes that there may be up to seven.[4][better source needed][5][6]
- ^ Gray, J. E. (1865). "Revision of the genera and species of Mustelidae contained in the British Museum". Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1865: 150.
- ^ Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Kinlaw, A (1995). "Spilogale putorius". Mammalian Species. 511: 1–7. doi:10.2307/0.511.1.
- ^ "Doubling the number of species of hand-standing spotted skunks".
- ^ Magazine, Smithsonian; Langlois, Jill. "Scientists Identify Seven Species of Spotted Skunks, and They All Do Handstands Before They Spray". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-11-20.
- ^ McDonough, Molly M.; Ferguson, Adam W.; Dowler, Robert C.; Gompper, Matthew E.; Maldonado, Jesús E. (2020-10-25). Phylogenomic systematics of the spotted skunks (Carnivora, Mephitidae, Spilogale): Additional species diversity and Pleistocene climate change as a major driver of diversification (Report). pp. 2020.10.23.353045. doi:10.1101/2020.10.23.353045. S2CID 226229298.