The questions you ponder in the middle of the night...

[colinftm]

Are skunks related to squirrels?

Comments

[novawildstar]

Ummm I don't think so, but it's just a guess.

Why are you wondering?

[charlibrown]

because i asked and so he was trying to find out.. uhh.. i was curious cuz of the similarities in their tails.. yeah.. can you tell we haven't slept?

[novawildstar]

LOL, well I did a quick google on it and couldn't find anything.

Don't worry, I tend to wonder about those kind of things even if I have slept :)

[novawildstar]

Skunks:

Order: Fissipedia
Family: Mustelidae
Sub Family: Mephitidae
Genus: Mephitis
Species: Mephitis mephitis

Squirrels:

Scientific name: Sciurus carolinensis

That was about all I could find after digging a bit. I don't like leaving a question unanswered if at all possible :)

[tasterainbows]

Well, they're both mammals, right?

[dsboydaddysins]

this is all i could find.. "Skunks have gene sequences in their cellular DNA related to squirrel monkey retrovirus: transmission between species of a new world primate endogenous type D retrovirus".. so i think the answer is no.