Striped polecat[1] | |
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Taxidermied specimen in the Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria, Genoa | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Mustelidae |
Genus: | Ictonyx |
Species: | I. striatus
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Binomial name | |
Ictonyx striatus (Perry, 1810)
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Subspecies[1] | |
(many) | |
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Striped polecat range |
The striped polecat (Ictonyx striatus), also called the African polecat, zoril, zorille, zorilla, Cape polecat, and African skunk, is a member of the family Mustelidae that resembles a skunk (of the family Mephitidae).[3] The name "zorilla" comes from the Spanish word "zorillo", meaning "skunk", itself a diminutive form of the Spanish "zorro," "fox." It lives predominantly in dry and arid climates, such as the savannahs and open country of Central, Southern, and sub-Saharan Africa, excluding the Congo basin and the more coastal areas of West Africa.[2][4]