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What evidence separated eastern and western spotted skunks into different species?

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Striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) — skunk Striped skunk (*Mephitis mephitis*).

The eastern and western spotted skunks were previously classified as a single species, but they are now recognized as distinct species based on genetic and reproductive data.1

These findings provided the necessary evidence to warrant their separate classification within the genus Spilogale.1