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The least weasel (Mustela nivalis), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus Mustela, family Mustelidae and order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia , North America and North Africa , and has been introduced to New Zealand , Malta , Crete , the Azores , and São Tomé .
In the UK, the term "weasel" usually refers to the smallest species, the least weasel (M. nivalis), [1] the smallest carnivoran species. [ 2 ] Least weasels vary in length from 173 to 217 mm ( 6 + 3 ⁄ 4 to 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in), [ 3 ] females being smaller than the males, and usually have red or brown upper coats and white bellies; some populations ...
In North America, where the ecological niche for rat- and rabbit-sized prey is taken by the larger long-tailed weasel (Neogale frenata), the American ermine preys on mice, voles, shrews, young cottontails, [7] chipmunks, deer mice, jumping mice, and house mice. Usually the ermine kills by biting at base of skull.
Europe, north Asia, northern North America, and Greenland (native range in green, introduced in red (New Zealand)); map includes range of American and haida ermines: Size: 17–33 cm (7–13 in) long, plus 4–12 cm (2–5 in) tail [109] Habitat: Shrubland, inland wetlands, grassland, rocky areas, and forest [110]
Colombian weasel: Andes of Colombia and Ecuador: Neogale frenata (Lichtenstein, 1831) Long-tailed weasel: Continental North America south of southern Canada; Andes and northern Amazon Basin in South America Neogale vison (Schreber, 1777) American mink: North America (United States and Canada); introduced to Europe, Japan, Chile and Argentina
Mammals include North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), stoat (Mustela erminea), least weasel (Mustela nivalis), grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), gray wolf (Canis lupus), moose (Alces alces), and caribou (Rangifer tarandus). One of the largest bear populations is found in Katmai National Park and Preserve and on Iliamna Lake. [1]
Skulls of a long-tailed weasel (top), a stoat (bottom left) and least weasel (bottom right), as illustrated in Merriam's Synopsis of the Weasels of North America. The long-tailed weasel is the product of a process begun 5–7 million years ago, when northern forests were replaced by open grassland, thus prompting an explosive evolution of small, burrowing rodents.
The habitat for the Haida ermine has been intensively reduced over the past few centuries due to old-growth timber harvest in the Tongass National Forest, an important protected area for the species, as well as industrial-scale mining on the islands, which disproportionately affects insular endemics such as M. haidarum.