endemic to a single state or province

United States

Origin: Native

Regularity: Regularly occurring

Currently: Absent

Confidence: Confident

Type of Residency: Year-round

Type for Conepatus leuconotus telmalestes
Collection: Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Division of Mammals
Sex/Stage: Male;
Preparation: Skin; Skull
Collector(s): J. Gaut
Year Collected: 1905
Locality: Big Thicket, Sour Lake, 7 Mi NE, Hardin County, Texas, United States, North America

United States

Rounded National Status Rank: NX - Presumed Extirpated

Rounded Global Status Rank: TX - Presumed Extinct

Comments: Conepatus leuconotus and C. mesoleucus formerly were regarded as distinct species (Jones et al. 1992; Wozencraft, in Wilson and Reeder 1993). Dragoo and Honeycut (1995) examined morphological and molecular characters of Conepatus skunks and determined that (1) C. mesoleucus is not a species distinct from C. leuconotus, (2) Conepatus subspecies texensis, mearnsi, mesoleucus, nelsoni, venaticus, nicaraguae, sonoriensis, and filipensis should be lumped as C. leuconotus leuconotus, (3) subspecies figginsi and fremonti should be lumped as C. l. figginsi, and (4) C. mesoleucus telmalestes should be regarded as C. leuconotus telmalestes (though they suggested that further genetic research may indicate that telmalestes is not a valid taxon).