Honey badger🦡

Photo: en:User:Jaganath · CC BY-SA 3.0

SpeciesCarnivoraMustelidae
Carnivores

🦡Honey badger

Mellivora capensis (Schreber, 1776)

De honingdas of in het Afrikaans ratel (Mellivora capensis) is een grote marterachtige uit de woestijnen, savannen en bossen van Afrika en Azië. Hij wordt zo genoemd omwille van een vermeende voorliefde voor honing.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
134
Photos
2
Measurements
11
vs you
≈ 1/6th of your weight
Also called
Ratel, Rattel
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2016.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
10 kg
Body length
0.73 m
Shoulder height
0.26 m
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
31 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Honey badger

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
10 kg
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 10 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
0.73 m
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Shoulder height
0.26 m0.23–0.28 m · typical range
Details ↓

Value is the midpoint of the published range. The site's flagship small-and-angry animal.

Source: Rosevear 1974, The Carnivores of West Africa, p.113 · see citation

Brain mass
78 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
31 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 31 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
9.78 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
180 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 180 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
about 2
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 2AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Omnivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Diurnal
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
10 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Honey badger yet: top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderCarnivora
  5. ›familyMustelidae
  6. ›genusMellivora
  7. ›speciesMellivora capensis
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  3. subfamilyMellivoriane
  4. genusMellivora
All 15 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderLaurasiatheria
  11. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  12. suborderCaniformia
  13. familyMustelidae
  14. subfamilyMellivoriane
  15. genusMellivora
More

More about the Honey badger

Closest relative on this site
🦡 Beech marten — last shared an ancestor ≈ 12 million years ago.
What it eats
warm-blooded animals40%
insects and other invertebrates20%
reptiles, fish and amphibians20%
carrion10%
leaves, roots and other plants10%
In other languages
Honigdachs (de), Ratel (fr), Mellivora capensis (it), ratel miodożerny (pl), גירית הדבש (he), 라텔 (ko) … and 28 more languages

Dieren voor de camera

Echte beelden van de dieren op deze site — hoe ze jagen, vechten en gewoon hun eigen gang gaan.

Bekijk alle 134 video's →
Graphic clips stay hidden unless you pick Graphic.
Tools

Compare the Honey badger

Pick a tool — the Honey badger is already selected.