MammalBase - Accepted taxon: Mephitis mephitis

Accepted taxon: Mephitis mephitis
Taxon:	Mephitis mephitis
Rank:	Species
Higher Classification:	CARNIVORA \| CANIFORMIA \| Mephitidae \| Mephitis
Reference:	Wilson, Don E., and DeeAnn M. Reeder, eds. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), JHU Press, 2005.

Fig.1 - Ternary plot of the proximate analysis for the Mephitis mephitis diet.
CF (Crude Fibre) 5, ASH (Ash contents) 7, NFE (Nitrogen-Free-Extract) 16, CP (Crude Protein) 48, EE (Ether Extract) 24. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 1. List of Diet Items for Mephitis mephitis.
TSN Complete name	Part	Ratio ^a.	Reference(s)
Insecta	WHOLE	19.84	Damuth, J…
Muridae	WHOLE	19.05	Damuth, J…
Vertebrata	EGGS	15.87	Damuth, J…
Scarabaeoidea	LARVAE	9.52	Damuth, J…
Magnoliopsida	FRUIT	8.73	Damuth, J…
Rodentia	WHOLE	8.33	Grzimek,B…
Reptilia	WHOLE	5.95	Grzimek,B…
Amphibia	WHOLE	4.76	Grzimek,B…
Aves	EGGS	3.57	Grzimek,B…
Vertebrata	CARRION	3.17	Damuth, J…
Magnoliopsida	SEED	1.19	Grzimek,B…

^a. Standardized values. See details for the calculations in Lintulaakso, K., Tatti, N. and Žliobaitė, I., 2022. Quantifying mammalian diets. Mammalian Biology, pp.1-15. [DOI]

Table 2. List of Standard Traits for Mephitis mephitis.
Trait	Selected Value	All Value(s)	Reference(s)
Locomotion: Eisenberg 1981	Terrestrial	Semifossorial, Terrestrial	– John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554, Joshua X. Samuels, Blaire Van Valkenburgh, 2008, 'Skeletal indicators of locomotor adaptations in living and extinct rodents', Journal of Morphology, vol. 269, no. 11, pp. 1387-1411
Dietary category: Eisenberg 1981	Insectivore	Carnivore, Frugivore-omnivore, Insectivore	– John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554, Juhn, M., Balisi, M., Doughty, E., Friscia, A., Howenstine, A., Jacquemetton, C., Marcot, J., Nugen, S., Van Valkenburgh, B. 2024. Cenozoic climate change and the evolution of North American mammalian predator ecomorphology. Paleobiology. None(None), pp.1-10. Available at: 10.1017/pab.2024.27.
Dietary category: Miljutin 2009	Animalivore	Animalivore, Frugivore	– John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554, Juhn, M., Balisi, M., Doughty, E., Friscia, A., Howenstine, A., Jacquemetton, C., Marcot, J., Nugen, S., Van Valkenburgh, B. 2024. Cenozoic climate change and the evolution of North American mammalian predator ecomorphology. Paleobiology. None(None), pp.1-10. Available at: 10.1017/pab.2024.27.
Temporal habits	nocturnal and crepuscular	nocturnal and crepuscular	– John L. Gittleman, 1985, 'Carnivore body size: Ecological and taxonomic correlates', Oecologia, vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 540-554

Table 3. List of Standard Measurements for Mephitis mephitis.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	6	6	-	-	-	1,641.4	-	-	Engelman,…
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	-	-	-	-	500	-	8,000	-	Freudenth…
Body Mass (BM)	nan	g	-	-	-	-	-	2,400	-	-	Juhn, M.,…
Head-Body Length (HBL)	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	402.5	-	-	Engelman,…
Occipital condyle width (OCW)	nan	mm	6	6	-	-	-	17.66	-	-	Engelman,…

Table 4. List of other Measurements ^b. for Mephitis mephitis.
Measurement	Location	Unit	n Total	n Unknown	n Female	n Male	Min	Mean	Max	SD	Reference(s)
brainmass	nan	g	-	-	-	-	-	10	-	-	Engelman,…
skull_length	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	73	-	-	Engelman,…
BMR (kJ/h)	nan	kJ/h	-	-	-	-	-	30	-	-	McNab, B.…
femur circumference	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	22	-	-	Nelson, A…
femur diameter	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	Nelson, A…
humerus circumference	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	24	-	-	Nelson, A…
humerus diameter	nan	mm	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	Nelson, A…
BMR,mlO2/h	nan	mlO2/h	2	2	-	-	-	1,508	-	-	Genoud, M…
relative blade length (RBL)	nan	unitless	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	Juhn, M.S…

^b. other Measurements. Source Measurements which are not listed on or mapped with the Standard Traits..

Table 5. List of Data Sources for Mephitis mephitis.
Taxon	Reference	Match	Status
Mephitis mephitis	Nowak,R. M., 1991, Walker's mammals of the world,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Samuels,J. X., 2008, Skeletal indicators of locomotor adaptations in living and extinct rodents, Journal of Morphology	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Gittleman,J. L., 1985, Carnivore body size: ecological and taxonomic correlates, Oecologia	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Damuth, J. 2010. ABSOLUT 6 a mammalian database compiled by the national center for ecological analysis and synthesis (NCEAS ) workshop on mammalian communities.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Reid,F., 2006, Peterson field guide to mammals of North America,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Grzimek,B., 2003, Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia: Mammals I-V,	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Law, C.J., Blackwell, E.A., Curtis, A.A., Dickinson, E., Hartstone‐Rose, A. and Santana, S.E., 2022. Decoupled evolution of the cranium and mandible in carnivoran mammals. Evolution.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Engelman, R.K., 2022. Occipital condyle width (OCW) is a highly accurate predictor of body mass in therian mammals. BMC biology, 20(1), p.37.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	DeMers, A.C., 2023. Functional Significance of the Mandible, Tooth Roots, and Tooth Crowns, and their Implications for Fossil Dietary Inference (Doctoral dissertation, The Ohio State University).	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	McNab, B.K., 2008. An analysis of the factors that influence the level and scaling of mammalian BMR. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Molecular & Integrative Physiology, 151(1), pp.5-28.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Nelson, A., Engelman, R.K. and Croft, D.A., 2023. How to weigh a fossil mammal? South American notoungulates as a case study for estimating body mass in extinct clades. Journal of Mammalian Evolution, 30(3), pp.773-809.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Genoud, M., Isler, K. and Martin, R.D., 2018. Comparative analyses of basal rate of metabolism in mammals: data selection does matter. Biological Reviews, 93(1), pp.404-438.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Freudenthal, M. and Martín-Suárez, E., 2013. Estimating body mass of fossil rodents. Scripta Geologica, 145, pp.1-513.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted
Mephitis mephitis	Juhn, M.S., Balisi, M.A., Doughty, E.M., Friscia, A.R., Howenstine, A.O., Jacquemetton, C., Marcot, J., Nugen, S. and Van Valkenburgh, B., 2024. Cenozoic climate change and the evolution of North American mammalian predator ecomorphology. Paleobiology, pp.1-10.	1: Exact Taxon match	Verified - Accepted

Citation for this page: [The MammalBase community 2026. / CC BY 4.0. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7462864 Mephitis mephitis , Accessed 30th April 2026 at https://mammalbase.net/me/15193]