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The American marten is a long, slender-bodied weasel about the size of a mink with relatively large, rounded ears, short limbs, and a bushy tail. American marten have a roughly triangular head and sharp nose. Their long, silky fur ranges in color from pale yellowish buff to tawny brown to almost black.
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 American ermine has a body plan typical of weasels. It has short legs, a long body and neck, and a small triangular head with short round ears. It has a brown dorsum with a white venter (except during winter when the coat is fully white) and a short, black-tipped tail. [2]
Sthenictis sp. (American Museum of Natural History). Mustelids vary greatly in size and behaviour. The smaller variants of the least weasel can be under 20 cm (8 in) in length, while the giant otter of Amazonian South America can measure up to 1.7 m (5 ft 7 in) and sea otters can exceed 45 kg (99 lb) in weight.
They have long, slender bodies, which enable them to follow their prey into burrows. Their tails may be from 34 to 52 mm (1 + 1 ⁄ 4 to 2 in) long. [3] Weasels feed on small mammals and have from time to time been considered vermin because some species took poultry from farms or rabbits from commercial warrens.
Neogale contains four species: the Amazon weasel (Neogale africana), the long and short-tailed weasels (N. frenata and N. lontra), and the American mink (N. vison). Native to the Americas, members of the genus can be found as far north as Alaska and as far south as Argentina and Bolivia.
Family Mustelidae (otters, weasels and relatives) North American river otter (Lontra canadensis) RI; Least weasel (Mustela nivalis) U; American ermine (Mustela richardsonii) U [11] Long-tailed weasel (Neogale frenata) U; American mink (Neogale vison) U; Fisher (Pekania pennanti) RI; Family Mephitidae (skunks) Striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) C
Long-tailed weasel, Neogale frenata; Genus: Pteronura. ... about the size of a large house cat, with a long snout and prehensile tail. Family: Didelphidae ...