CRANIOLOGICAL IDENTIFICATION OF THE BADGERS MELES MELES AND MELES LEUCURUS (CARNIVORA, MUSTELIDAE) FROM EUROPE AND NORTHERN ASIA

A complex of morphotypical and morphometric characteristics of the skull and mandible in two continental badger species from Eastern Europe (Meles meles) and Siberia (M. leucurus) is considered. In addition to well-known differences in teeth and skull, some new diagnostic morphological features of mandible are described. A number of diagnostic features for skull and mandible that can be used for the species identification of badgers became greater. Analysis of morphological and morphometric features of skull and mandible promotes the species identification of European (M. meles) and Asian (M. leucurus) badgers. In addition to the previously found differences in size, European and Asian badgers differ from each other in the shape and proportion of ramus and temporal part of skulls. The complex of features proposed can be used for the identification of animal species according to fossil skulls, mandibles, and its fragments.