Honey badgers are similar in size and build to the European badger, Meles meles. They are heavily built, with a broad head, small eyes, no external ears, and a relatively blunt snout, the female smaller than the male. Broad and powerful the legs are short, but the forelegs are well-developed, equipped with strong claws like curved knives which can be up to 40mm long and broad feet, 3.5 cm long with sharp edges, back-claws straighter, 1.5 cm long without sharp edges. The head-and-body length ranges from 60 to 102 cm, plus a tail of 16 to 30 cm. The animal's height at the shoulder can be from 23 to 30 cm. Adult body weights vary from 5.5 to 14 kg. There is a considerable difference between the sizes of the male and female, with males sometimes weighing up to twice as much as females. The wei