Mephitis

Last updated April 24, 2019

Mephitis may refer to:

Mephitis (genus), a genus of skunks
Mefitis or Mephitis, a Roman goddess

The genus Mephitis is one of several genera of skunks, which has two species and a North American distribution.

Mefitis is the Samnite goddess of the foul-smelling gases of the earth. The Samnites occupied central Italy before the rise of Rome. Mefitis was worshipped in central and southern Italy before Roman times, with her main shrine in the volcano Ampsanctus in Samnium. There was a temple dedicated to her in Cremona, and another on the Esquiline Hill in Rome. It is theorized that Mefitis was originally a goddess of underground sources, such as natural springs—the fact that many of these springs were sulfurous led to her association with noxious gases. She is almost always identified with volcanoes, having been worshipped at Pompeii. Her name, which likely means "one who smokes in the middle", is also seen as Mephitis.

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Mephitidae is a family of mammals comprising the skunks and stink badgers. They are noted for the great development of their anal scent glands, which they use to deter predators.

Skunks are North and South American mammals in the family Mephitidae. While related to polecats and other members of the weasel family, skunks have as their closest Old World relatives the stink badgers. The animals are known for their ability to spray a liquid with a strong, unpleasant smell. Different species of skunk vary in appearance from black-and-white to brown, cream or ginger colored, but all have warning coloration.

The Devils Backbone Wilderness is one of eight wilderness areas protected and preserved in the U.S. State of Missouri. The United States Congress designated the wilderness area in 1980, and it now has a total of 6,595 acres (26 km²). Devil's Backbone is located within the Willow Springs section of the Ava-Cassville-Willow Springs Ranger District, of the Mark Twain National Forest, near Willow Springs, Missouri. It was named for a prominent ridge down the center of the area. Horseback riding is popular on a network of trails in the wilderness.

The striped skunk is a skunk of the genus Mephitis that is native to southern Canada, the United States and northern Mexico. It is currently listed as least concern by the IUCN on account of its wide range and ability to adapt to human-modified environments.

Pimoidae is a small family of araneomorph spiders first described by J. Wunderlich in 1986. It contains 37 species in four genera and is monophyletic. It is closely related to the Linyphiidae, and is sometimes used as a synonym for that family.

Pimoa is a genus of spiders in the family Pimoidae. Its sister genus is Nanoa.

The hooded skunk is a species of mammal in the family Mephitidae. Mephītis in Latin means "foul odor", μακρός (makrós) in Greek translates to "long" and οὐρά (ourá) translates to "tail".

Androlaelaps fahrenholzi is a species of mite in the genus Androlaelaps of the family Laelapidae. It occurs throughout the contiguous United States, where it has been recorded on the mammals Arborimus albipes, Arborimus longicaudus, Bassariscus astutus, Blarina brevicauda, Blarina carolinensis, Callospermophilus lateralis, Chaetodipus hispidus, Condylura cristata, Corynorhinus townsendii, Cryptotis parva, Cynomys ludovicianus, Didelphis virginiana, Dipodomys elator, Dipodomys elephantinus, Dipodomys ordii, Dipodomys venustus, Geomys pinetis, Glaucomys sabrinus, Glaucomys volans, Lemmiscus curtatus, Marmota monax, Mephitis mephitis, Microtus chrotorrhinus, Ictidomys tridecemlineatus, Microtus longicaudus, Microtus montanus, Microtus ochrogaster, Microtus oregoni, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Microtus pinetorum, Microtus richardsoni, Microtus townsendii, Mus musculus, Mustela erminea, Mustela frenata, Mustela nivalis, Myodes californicus, Myodes gapperi, Napaeozapus insignis, Neofiber alleni, Neotamias amoenus, Neotamias minimus, Neotoma cinerea, Neotoma floridana, Neotoma fuscipes, Neotoma lepida, Neotoma magister, Neotoma micropus, Neovison vison, Neurotrichus gibbsii, Ochrotomys nuttalli, Ondatra zibethicus, Onychomys leucogaster, Otospermophilus beecheyi, Oryzomys palustris, Parascalops breweri, Perognathus fasciatus, Perognathus parvus, Peromyscus boylii, Peromyscus crinitus, Peromyscus gossypinus, Peromyscus leucopus, Peromyscus maniculatus, Peromyscus truei, Podomys floridanus, Poliocitellus franklinii, Procyon lotor, Rattus norvegicus, Reithrodontomys megalotis, Scalopus aquaticus, Scapanus latimanus, Scapanus orarius, Scapanus townsendii, Sciurus carolinensis, Sciurus niger, Sigmodon hispidus, Sorex bendirii, Sorex cinereus, Sorex fumeus, Sorex longirostris, Sorex pacificus, Sorex palustris, Sorex trowbridgii, Sorex vagrans, Spilogale putorius, Sylvilagus floridanus, Sylvilagus palustris, Synaptomys borealis, Synaptomys cooperi, Tamias striatus, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, Taxidea taxus, Thomomys talpoides, Urocitellus beldingi, Urocitellus brunneus, Urocitellus richardsonii, Urocitellus townsendii, Urocitellus washingtoni, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, Xerospermophilus tereticaudus, Zapus hudsonius, Zapus princeps, and Zapus trinotatus.

Luteimonas mephitis is a yellow-pigmented bacterium and the type species of its genus. Its type strain is B1953/27.1^T.

Pseudoxanthomonas is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria in the family Xanthomonadaceae from the phylum Proteobacteria. This genus is closely related phylogenetically with the genera Xanthomonas, Xylella, and Stenotrophomonas. The genus was first distinguished in 2000 in biofilter samples, and was later emended by Lee et al. Some of the species in this genus are: P. mexicana, P. japonensis, P. koreensis, P. daejeonensis, and the type species P. broegbernensis.

Archaerhineura was a genus of amphisbaenian lizards in the family Rhineuridae that is now extinct. The only species is Archaerhineura mephitis, named in 2015 on the basis of a single fragment of the lower jaw from the Polecat Bench Formation in Park County, Wyoming, which dates to the late Paleocene. Archaerhineura is one of the oldest amphisbaenians and was part of an evolutionary radiation of Rhineuridae in the Paleocene several million years after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. This rhineurid radiation coincided with the radiation of another group of amphisbaenians, Amphisbaeniformes, which includes the still-extant families Blanidae and Amphisbaenidae. The presence of Archaerhineura and other Paleocene rhineurids in the western United States indicates that amphisbaenians, which would later have a nearly global distribution, originated in North America.