Editing European badger (section)

===Subspecies===
In the 19th and 20th centuries, several badger [[type specimen]]s were described and proposed as [[subspecies]]. {{As of|2005}}, eight subspecies were recognized as [[Valid name (zoology)|valid]] [[Taxon|taxa]], but four (''canescens'', ''arcalus'', ''rhodius'', ''severzovi'') are now considered to belong to a distinct species, the [[Caucasian badger]] (''M. canescens'').<ref>{{MSW3 Wozencraft |pages=611–612 |id=14001283 |heading=Species ''Meles meles''}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Explore the Database|url=https://www.mammaldiversity.org/explore.html#species-id=1005857|access-date=2021-06-25|website=www.mammaldiversity.org}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable collapsible" font=90%
|- bgcolor="#115a6c"
!Subspecies
!Trinomial authority and synonyms
!Description
!Range
|-style="vertical-align: top;"
|'''Common badger''' (''M. m. meles'')
[[File:Badger Cornwall 3.jpg|150 px]]
|Linnaeus, 1758<br />
{{small|''taxus'' (Boddaert, 1785)}}<br/>
{{small|''alba'' (Gmelin, 1788)}}<br/>
{{small|''maculata'' (Gmelin, 1788)}}<br/>
{{small|''vulgaris'' (Tiedemann, 1808)}}<br/>
{{small|''europaeus'' (Desmarest, 1816)}}<br/>
{{small|''caninus'' (Billberg, 1827)}}<br/>
{{small|''communis'' (Billberg, 1827)}}<br/>
{{nowrap|{{small|''typicus'' (Barrett-Hamilton, 1899)}}}}<br/>
{{small|''britannicus'' (Satunin, 1905)}}<br/>
{{small|''caucasicus'' (Ognev, 1926)}}<br/>
{{small|''tauricus'' (Ognev, 1926)}}<br/>
{{small|''danicus'' (Degerbøl, 1933)}}
|A large subspecies with a strongly developed sagittal crest, it has a soft pelage and relatively dense underfur. The back has a relatively pure silvery-grey tone, while the main tone of the head is pure white. The dark stripes are wide and black, while the white fields fully extend along the upper and lateral parts of the neck. It can weigh up to 20–24&nbsp;kg in autumn, with some specimens attaining even larger sizes.<ref name="s1253">{{Harvnb|Heptner|Sludskii|2001|pp=1253–1254}}</ref>
|Continental Europe, except for the [[Iberian Peninsula]]. Its eastern range encompasses the European area of the [[former Soviet Union]] eastward to the [[Volga]], [[Crimea]], [[Ciscaucasia]], and the northern [[Caucasus]]
|-style="vertical-align: top;"
|'''Iberian badger''' (''M. m. marianensis'')
|[[Mariano de la Paz Graells y de la Agüera|Graells]], 1897<ref>{{cite book |last1=Graells |first1=M. de la P. |year=1897 |title=Fauna Mastodológica Ibérica |series=Memorias de la Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Fisicas y Naturales de Madrid |volume=17 |chapter=Meles Taxus. (Schreb.) |pages=170–173 |publisher=Madrid |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/memoriasdelareal1797real/page/170}}</ref> <br />
{{small|''mediterraneus'' (Barrett-Hamilton, 1899)}}
|
|[[Spain]] and [[Portugal]]
|-style="vertical-align: top;"
|'''Kizlyar badger''' (''M. m. heptneri'')
|[[Sergey Ognev|Ognev]], 1931
|A large subspecies, it exhibits several traits of the Asian badger, namely its very pale, dull, dirty-greyish-ocherous colour and narrow head stripes.<ref name="s1254">{{Harvnb|Heptner|Sludskii|2001|pp=1254–1255}}</ref>
|Steppe region of northeastern Ciscaucasia, the Kalmytsk steppes and the Volga delta
|-style="vertical-align: top;"
|'''Norwegian badger''' (''M. m. milleri'')
[[File:Meles meles norway 1.JPG|150 px]]
|Baryshnikov, Puzachenko and Abramov, 2003<ref name=Baryshnikov>{{cite journal |author1=Baryshnikov, G. F. |author2=Puzachenko, A. Y. |author3=Abramov, A. V. |year=2003 |title=New analysis of variability of check teeth in Eurasian badgers (Carnivora, Mustelidae, ''Meles'') |journal=Russian Journal of Theriology |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=133–149 |doi=10.15298/rusjtheriol.01.2.07 |url=http://www.zin.ru/labs/theriology/staff/baryshnikov/references/baryshnikov_et_al_2002c.pdf|doi-access=free }}</ref>
|This subspecies has a smaller skull and smaller teeth than the [[Nominate subspecies|nominate]] badger subspecies in Sweden and Finland.<ref name=Baryshnikov/>
|Southwestern [[Norway]], west of [[Telemark]]<ref name=Baryshnikov/>
|-
|}