''Mellivora'' is a genus of mustelids that contains the

honey badger The honey badger (''Mellivora capensis''), also known as the ratel ( or ), is a mammal widely distributed across Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the only living species in both the genus ''Mellivora'' and the subfami ...

or ratel ''(Mellivora capensis)''. It is also the sole living representative of the subfamily Mellivorinae. Additionally, two extinct species are known. The honey badger is native to much of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and

South Asia South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...

, while fossil relatives occurred in those areas and

Southern Europe Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...

Taxonomy

The genus ''Mellivora'' probably evolved from the more primitive ''Promellivora punjabiensis'' of

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

(which itself was formerly classified as ''M. punjabiensis''). The two genera are grouped together in the tribe Eomellivorini together with the extinct giant mustelids '' Eomellivora'' and '' Ekorus''. Mellivora benfieldi mandible

'' Mellivora benfieldi'' is considered a likely ancestor of the living honey badger.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q13564654 Carnivoran genera Mammal genera with one living species Badgers Taxa named by Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr