I just now got home and skimmed through the FML and several letters that
mentioned the reclassification of skunks to their own group and felt the
need to comment.  The newspaper article is referring to the same _Journal of
Mammalogy_ paper I mentioned a couple of weeks ago.
 
The fact that the skunk family was found to be different enough to warrant
the suggestion they be placed in their own family is neat stuff, but the
thought that they have already been reclassified is somewhat premature.
Such a reclassification is only suggested; it will probably take some time
for peer review to sort the details out, and then decide if such a
classification is warranted.  I don't see it happening in the near future.
Science is slow, because it takes time to recheck all the facts, and even
longer to get the International Committee on Zoological Nomenclature to read
and make changes to existing taxonomic nomenclature.
 
However, the paper would still be useful, from a rabies point of view, in an
argument that ferrets are only distant cousins of skunks.  Unfortunately,
the paper also proves they are extremely closely related to weasels and
polecats, so the sword cuts both ways, and what might be gained from skunks
might be lost to weasels.  Lastly, the paper uses cladistics to make its
arguments, which I heartily endorse and approve, but it is a system of
argument that is difficult to understand for many non-scientists, and
combined with molecular genetics, is unfathomable for many.  In other words,
care must be taken for the paper not to backfire and do more harm than good.
 
Finally, as I understand it, and I may be wrong, but skunk rabies has
already been tested, and the stumbling block is bat rabies.  It would be
horrible for some biocrat to read the paper shoved under his nose, then say,
"Well, you are right about the skunks, but weasels have never been tested!
Now we need to test both bat strain AND weasel response...."
 
This isn't meant to throw a damper on things, nor as a flame, but take care
on this one.  The paper demonstrates the need for a change; it doesn't make
one.  And it only demonstrates the distance between weasels (ferrets) and
skunks; in no way does that distance influence an animal's response to
rabies, which can and does infect virtually all mammalian species, mostly
with deadly results.  In other words, skunks and weasels may be more
distantly related than previously thought, but both still get rabies, as can
horses, cows, dogs, cats, and even humans.  So use the paper if you can, but
please be careful!  I recommend considering it a "Bouncing Betty" in terms
of the rabies issue.  (For those that don't know, a bouncing betty is a
particular type of land mine that bounces in the air to explode in one's
face.)
 
Bob C and the 21 Bouncing Ferts
[Posted in FML issue 2031]