Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests at the highest elevations. Other native tree species include Caspian Locust ("Gleditsia caspica"), Velvet Maple ("Acer velutinum"), Cappadocian Maple ("Acer cappadocicum"), European Ash ("Fraxinus excelsior"), Wych Elm ("Ulmus glabra"), Wild Cherry ("Prunus avium"), Wild Service Tree ("Sorbus torminalis") and lime tree ("Tilia platyphyllos"). The Caspian tiger ("Panthera tigris virgata") once roamed these mountains, but is now extinct. Other large mammals here are the Caucasus leopard ("Panthera pardus ciscaucasica"), lynx ("Lynx lynx"), brown bear ("Ursus arctos"), wild boar ("Sus scrofa"), wolf ("Canis lupus"), golden jackal ("Canis aureus"), jungle cat ("Felis chaus"), badger ("Meles meles"), and otter ("Lutra lutra"). This ecoregion is
Meles (genus) has been much discussion as to whether it is a single species or three distinct species. There are geographical differences between individuals from different parts of the range in skull structure, morphology of the first premolar teeth, and facial markings. Some authorities advocated placing European and Asian badgers in separate species, "Meles meles" and "Meles leptorhynchus" (Milne-Edwards, 1867), the boundary between the two being the Volga River. Others considered there to be three subspecies, "M. m. meles", found west of the Volga, "M. m. arenarius-leptorhynchus", found between the Volga and Transbaikalia, and "M. m. amurensis-anakuma" from the Amur region and