The American Badger (Taxidea taxus) in Arkansas, With Emphasis on Expansion of its Range into Northeastern Arkansas

The American badger (Taxidea taxus) has been documented only three times in Arkansas, all in counties of the Ozark physiographic region. Since 2003, 11 new records have been obtained from five counties (Craighead, Crittenden, Lawrence, Marion, Poinsett), mostly in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain phys...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Southwestern naturalist 2012-12, Vol.57 (4), p.467-471
Main Authors: Tumlison, Renn, Sasse, D. Blake, Cartwright, Michael E, Brandebura, Stephen C, Klotz, Tracy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alluvial plains
Alluvial soils
Badgers
Ditches
Expansion
Forest habitats
Forest soils
Ground hogs
Habitat (Ecology)
Habitats
Highways
Identification and classification
Loam soils
Mammals
Measurement
Population density
Prairie soils
Rivers
Roads & highways
Taxidea taxus
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Summary:The American badger (Taxidea taxus) has been documented only three times in Arkansas, all in counties of the Ozark physiographic region. Since 2003, 11 new records have been obtained from five counties (Craighead, Crittenden, Lawrence, Marion, Poinsett), mostly in the Mississippi Alluvial Plain physiographic region of northeastern Arkansas. Three of these were photo-documented roadkills (two other roadkills were collected for the mammal museum at Arkansas State University). Another photo-record was obtained by use of a wildlife camera placed at a den, which resulted in discovery of a family group of five individuals; this represents the first record of breeding in Arkansas. Rather than an eastward expansion of range from the Ozark Mountains, we believe the population originated from the alluvial plains of southeastern Missouri. El tejón americano (Taxidea taxus) ha sido documentado solamente tres veces en Arkansas, todas en los condados de la región fiseogeográfica Ozark. Desde el 2003, 11 nuevos registros han sido obtenidos de cinco condados (Craighead, Crittenden, Lawrence, Marion, Poinsett), la mayoría en la región fiseogeográfica Mississippi Alluvial Plain del noreste de Arkansas. Tres de estos fueron documentados fotográficamente de tejones atropellados por vehículos (dos otros tejones atropellados fueron colectados para el museo de mamíferos de Arkansas State University). Otro registro fotográfico fue obtenido usando una cámara para animales silvestres localizada en una guarida, lo cual resultó en el descubrimiento de un grupo familiar de cinco individuos; esta representa el primer registro de reproducción en Arkansas. En vez de una expansión del rango geográfico de las montañas Ozark, creemos que la población se originó por las llanuras aluviales del sudeste de Missouri.
ISSN:0038-4909
1943-6262
DOI:10.1894/0038-4909-57.4.467