Meles (genus) theorized that they were an ancestral species from which these two modern species diverged. Another extinct species from Europe is "Meles hollitzeri" from the Early Pleistocene, remains of which were found in Deutsch-Altenburg, in northeastern Austria, and Untermassfeld, in southeastern Germany. Meles (genus) Meles is a genus of badgers containing three living species, the Japanese badger ("Meles anakuma"), Asian badger ("Meles leucurus"), and European badger ("Meles meles"). In an older categorization, they were seen as a single species with three subspecies ("Meles meles anakuma", "Meles meles leucurus" and "Meles meles meles"). There are also several extinct members of the genus.
European land mammal age European land mammal age The European Land Mammal Mega Zones (abbreviation: ELMMZ, more commonly known as European land mammal ages or ELMA) are zones in rock layers that have a specific assemblage of fossils (biozones) based on occurrences of fossil assemblages of European land mammals. These biozones cover most of the Neogene and Paleogene systems (i.e. rock layers which are 65.5 to 2.588 million years old). In cases when fossils of mammals are abundant, stratigraphers and paleontologists can use these biozones as a more practical regional alternative to the stages of the official ICS geologic timescale. European Land Mammal Mega