First record of a least weasel in Nunavik
The spatial distributions of several small mammals in Nunavik, Québec, Canada, currently do not rely on any recorded observations due to the rarity of wildlife surveys in that area. This is concerning because understanding changes in wildlife populations in response to the rapidly warming Arctic req...
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Canadian Science Publishing
2022
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crcansciencepubl:10.1139/as-2022-0029 2023-12-17T10:22:41+01:00 First record of a least weasel in Nunavik Fauteux, Dominique 2022 http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0029 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2022-0029 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2022-0029 en eng Canadian Science Publishing https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_GB Arctic Science ISSN 2368-7460 General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science journal-article 2022 crcansciencepubl https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0029 2023-11-19T13:38:41Z The spatial distributions of several small mammals in Nunavik, Québec, Canada, currently do not rely on any recorded observations due to the rarity of wildlife surveys in that area. This is concerning because understanding changes in wildlife populations in response to the rapidly warming Arctic requires knowledge of prior population states. On 18 July 2021, my assistant and I captured a least weasel ( Mustela nivalis Linnaeus, 1766) alive, 11 km southwest of Salluit during a live-trapping session of lemmings and voles. Identification was done with the small body mass (44 g), the presence of prominent testicles indicating maturity, short length of the tail, and pale colour at the tip of the tail. All these criteria combined fit only the description of least weasels. According to the available records for this species, this observation is the first one confirmed in Nunavik. This Low Arctic area was already included in the species distribution described in the literature, but no record supported it up to now. It is of particular importance considering this species is susceptible to be designated as threatened or vulnerable in the province of Quebec according to the Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Least Mustela nivalis Salluit Nunavik Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) Arctic Nunavik Canada Salluit ENVELOPE(-75.643,-75.643,62.204,62.204) Arctic Science |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Canadian Science Publishing (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crcansciencepubl |
language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science Fauteux, Dominique First record of a least weasel in Nunavik |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences General Agricultural and Biological Sciences General Environmental Science |
description |
The spatial distributions of several small mammals in Nunavik, Québec, Canada, currently do not rely on any recorded observations due to the rarity of wildlife surveys in that area. This is concerning because understanding changes in wildlife populations in response to the rapidly warming Arctic requires knowledge of prior population states. On 18 July 2021, my assistant and I captured a least weasel ( Mustela nivalis Linnaeus, 1766) alive, 11 km southwest of Salluit during a live-trapping session of lemmings and voles. Identification was done with the small body mass (44 g), the presence of prominent testicles indicating maturity, short length of the tail, and pale colour at the tip of the tail. All these criteria combined fit only the description of least weasels. According to the available records for this species, this observation is the first one confirmed in Nunavik. This Low Arctic area was already included in the species distribution described in the literature, but no record supported it up to now. It is of particular importance considering this species is susceptible to be designated as threatened or vulnerable in the province of Quebec according to the Centre de données sur le patrimoine naturel du Québec. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Fauteux, Dominique |
author_facet |
Fauteux, Dominique |
author_sort |
Fauteux, Dominique |
title |
First record of a least weasel in Nunavik |
title_short |
First record of a least weasel in Nunavik |
title_full |
First record of a least weasel in Nunavik |
title_fullStr |
First record of a least weasel in Nunavik |
title_full_unstemmed |
First record of a least weasel in Nunavik |
title_sort |
first record of a least weasel in nunavik |
publisher |
Canadian Science Publishing |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0029 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/full-xml/10.1139/as-2022-0029 https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/as-2022-0029 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-75.643,-75.643,62.204,62.204) |
geographic |
Arctic Nunavik Canada Salluit |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Nunavik Canada Salluit |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Least Mustela nivalis Salluit Nunavik |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Least Mustela nivalis Salluit Nunavik |
op_source |
Arctic Science ISSN 2368-7460 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en_GB |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1139/as-2022-0029 |
container_title |
Arctic Science |
_version_ |
1785551340407095296 |