Mustela nivalis Linnaeus 1766

• Main Authors: Don E. Wilson, Russell A. Mittermeier
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Published: Lynx Edicions 2009
• Subjects: Biodiversity; Taxonomy; Animalia; Chordata; Mammalia; Carnivora; Mustelidae; Mustela; Mustela nivalis; Yukon; Canada; New Zealand; eskimo*; Alaska
• Online Access: https://zenodo.org/record/5714197; https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5714197

50. Least Weasel Mustela nivalis French: Belette pygmée / German: Mauswiesel / Spanish: Comadreja comun Other common names: Weasel Taxonomy. Mustela nivalis Linnaeus, 1766, Sweden. Nine subspecies are recognized. Subspecies and Distribution. M. n. nivalis Linnaeus, 1766 — China, North and South Korea, Mongolia, Russia, Taiwan, and Scandinavia. M. n. allegheniensis Rhoads, 1900 — NE USA (Allegheny Mts W to Wisconsin). M. n. boccamela Bechstein, 1800 — Corsica, Italy, Portugal, Sardinia, Sicily, and Spain. M. n. campestris Jackson, 1913 — C Great Plains, USA. M. n. eskimo Stone, 1900 — Alaska and NW Canada (Yukon). M. n. namiyer Kuroda, 1921 — Japan and the Kurile Is. M. n. numidica Pucheran, 1855 — N Africa. M. n. rnixosa Bangs, 1896 — Canada and N Great Plains of USA. M. n. vulgaris Erxleben, 1777 = W & C Europe and most of C Eurasia. Introduced to New Zealand, Malta, Crete, the Azores Is, and apparently also Sao Tome I. Descriptive notes. Head-body 11.4-26 cm,tail 7-9 cm; weight 25-250 g, males are on average larger than females. There is much geographic variation in size. The tail is only slightly longer than the length of the hindfoot, and is less than 35% of head and body length. The Least Weasel is the smallest species within the Carnivora. It has a long and slender body, with short limbs and tail. Except in certain southern parts ofits range, the Least Weasel changes color during the spring and autumn. In summer, the upperparts are brown and the underparts are white. In winter, the entire coat is white, but unlike other weasels that turn white during the winter, the Least Weasel does not posses a black-tipped tail. There are three to four pairs of mammae. The skull has a short rostrum, and a large and long cerebral cranium. Dental formula: I 3/3, C 1/1, P3/3,M1/2=34. Habitat. The Least Weasel is found in a wide range of habitats that provide good cover and prey abundance, including agricultural fields, grasslands, forests, prairies, riparian woodlands, hedgerows, mountains (up to 4000 m), alpine ...