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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 .
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]
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.
[8] [9] The range extended into North American when a population of steppe polecat (Mustela eversmannii berengii) crossed the Bering land bridge. This subspecies evolved into modern black-footed ferrets. [10] Most members eat rodents. 90% of the black-footed ferret's diet is made up of prairie dogs, followed by other small rodents and lagomorphs.
The coyote (/ ˈ k aɪ. oʊ t / or / k aɪ ˈ oʊ t iː /) [12] (Canis latrans), also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, [13] is a species of canid found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada.
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
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.