What animal is a skunk related to?

Question

i heard they are related to giraffes...and i want to know if its true.

Answer 1

lol! They are a member of the weasel family and are related to:

polecats

weasels

ferrets

sables

martens

badgers

wolverines

stoats

mink

otters

racoons

The closest living relative of the giraffe is the okapi

Answer 2

Key word: Musteloidea. That's the family that skunks belong to, and there are several smaller families within that (Mustelidae, including ferrets, weasels, and polecats, Raccoons, etc.)

There's a good description on Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musteloidea

Answer 3

i used to think it was part of the rodent family.

Answer 4

I heard that they're somehow related to cats...

Answer 5

The only way skunks and giraffes are related is that both are mammals. This is also the only way they're related to rodents. They belong to the same order, Carnivora, as cats, but not the same family - cats belong to the family Felidae, whilst skunks belong to the family Mustelidae, the weasel family, which includes otters, badgers, stoats, wolverines, martens, mink, polecats and, of course, weasels.

Raccoons are not mustelids. They belong to the family Procyonidae, along with coatis, olingos, kinkajous and ringtails.

Answer 6

They are related to giraffes but so am I.  In both cases, the relationship is very distant indeed.  Skunks, giraffes and myself are placental mammals.  That's about as close as the relationship is.