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E. RAYMOND HALL
E. RAYMOND HALL
University of Kansas Lawrence 1951 University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard, Edward H. Taylor, Robert W. Wilson Vol. 4, pp. 1-466, plates 1 - 41 , 31 figures in text December 27, 1951 Lawrence, Kansas PRINTED BY FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER TOPEKA, KANSAS 1951 23-3758 Coloration of head and foreparts in ten subspecies of long-tailed weasel, Mustela frenata . All figures are of males, approximately × 1/2. In regions of h
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The weasel's agility and speed take it in and out of retreats, over obstacles and across open places in amazingly rapid fashion and are responsible for the animal's actions being described as "quick as a flash." The common long-tailed weasel of the United States measures approximately a foot and a half in length, of which the tail comprises a third; but the round, slender body is scarcely more than an inch and a half in diameter. Brown above and whitish below in summer dress, the animal is sleek
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PALEONTOLOGICAL HISTORY
PALEONTOLOGICAL HISTORY
The paleontological record fails to show the precise ancestry of Mustela . The genus has been found in deposits of Pleistocene age, but, so far as I can ascertain, not in deposits of earlier times. The Pleistocene remains are not specifically distinct from Recent (living) species, and in only a few instances (see M. f. latirostra and M. e. angustidens ) are they even subspecifically distinct from the Recent weasel living in the same area today. It is true that fossil remains from deposits of sev
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VERTEBRAE
VERTEBRAE
The vertebral column consists of 7 cervicals, and ordinarily 14 thoracics, 6 lumbars, 3 sacrals and, depending on the species, 11 to 23 caudals. For the three species of which skeletons were examined, variations from the normal number of vertebrae are noted in the following table: Table 1 Data on vertebrae in three species of the subgenus Mustela (Numerals in parentheses indicate number of specimens) Variation according to the species is evident in the number of caudal vertebrae, but in the othe
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TEETH
TEETH
In American weasels, for example in Mustela frenata , the permanent dentition normally is or 34 teeth in all. In most respects the dentition is typical for post-Tertiary mustelids but in several parts is highly specialized for a diet of flesh, the degree of this specialization being second only to that of the cats, family Felidae. The outstanding specialization is in the first lower molar, in which, as in the cats, the internal cusp (metaconid) is completely suppressed and the heel (talonid) for
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DISPARITY IN NUMBERS OF MALES AND FEMALES (IN ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS)
DISPARITY IN NUMBERS OF MALES AND FEMALES (IN ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTIONS)
The question has frequently been asked why twice as many male as female weasels are captured. This is the proportion in research collections, as may be seen from table no. 2, and I am convinced that the specimens in these collections are saved in approximately the same proportion as that in which they are caught. Although it might be assumed, upon first consideration, that there are twice as many males as females in nature, selective factors enter into the catch. For example, because a male weas
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MATERIALS, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND METHODS
MATERIALS, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND METHODS
At a late stage in the preparation of this manuscript a total of 5,457 specimens had been examined. For the most part these were conventional study-specimens; that is to say, they were stuffed skins with the skulls separate and each was accompanied by the customary data as to locality of capture, date of capture, name of collector, external measurements and sex recorded on the labels by the collectors. Skulls unaccompanied by skins, nevertheless, comprised a large share of the total and a small
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Variation with Age
Variation with Age
The kind of variation which results from increasing age has been dealt with extensively for the skull (of the Old World Mustela erminea ) by Hensel (1881) and for the external features and to some extent for the skull by Hamilton (1933) in the North American forms M. erminea cicognanii and M. frenata noveboracensis . The young of both erminea and frenata are hairless and blind at birth. In M. frenata noveboracensis , the eyes open on approximately the 37th day. When 2 to 4 months old, the tail i
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Secondary Sexual Variation
Secondary Sexual Variation
The secondary sexual variation, which has been detected, is in size of the animal, relative length of the tail and shape of the skull. The female is the smaller. In the small Mustela rixosa and apparently in Mustela africana the secondary sexual difference in size is relatively slight. In Mustela frenata and Mustela erminea , males are approximately twice as heavy as females, the degree of difference very definitely depending upon the subspecies. For example, in M. e. richardsonii the recorded w
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Individual Variation
Individual Variation
Individual variation is here considered to be the variation in one species which can occur between offspring of a single pair of parents, after variation ascribable to differences in age, sex, and season is excluded. Individual variation, therefore, is a term here used in a composite sense; it includes variations which probably represent different genetic strains within certain populations and variations induced within one generation by environmental factors. In skulls of weasels, the individual
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Seasonal Variation
Seasonal Variation
When subspecific and specific variations are the objectives of study, seasonal variation must be understood, in order to be excluded from consideration, in the same way that variations ascribable to age, sex and individualism must be understood in order to be excluded from consideration. In weasels, change in color of the pelage is the seasonal variation most important for the systematist to understand. Other seasonal variations in the pelage are hairiness versus nakedness of the pads of the fee
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Variation in Coloration and Molt
Variation in Coloration and Molt
In all American weasels (subgenus Mustela ) the color, at least in summer, is brown with more or less white or whitish on the underparts. In one species, Mustela africana , there is a longitudinal stripe of brown on the middle of the light-colored underparts; this stripe is absent in each of the other three American species. Two species, M. erminea and M. frenata , always have a black tip on the tail. Of the other two species, M. africana lacks the black tip and M. rixosa may or may not have a f
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Variations of Taxonomic Worth
Variations of Taxonomic Worth
Variations of taxonomic worth usually are referred to as characters. For example, shortness of the tympanic bulla is a character, and the opposite condition, long tympanic bulla, is another character. Specific variations, that is to say specific characters, are provided by the color-pattern, length of tail, number of premolar teeth, shape of the tympanic bullae, and length of the braincase in relation to the length of the tooth-bearing parts of the skull. Subspecific characters are provided by c
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DISTRIBUTION AND SPECIATION
DISTRIBUTION AND SPECIATION
Weasels of the subgenus Mustela are known from the Pleistocene but not from deposits laid down at an earlier time (see page 10 ). The Pleistocene weasels from Rancho La Brea of southern California and from Potter Creek Cave and Samwel Cave, both of northern California, are subspecifically indistinguishable from the weasels living in those same localities today. The other notable occurrence of weasels in the Pleistocene is in the Conard Fissure of Arkansas. Brown (1908:181, 182, pl. 17) names two
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Chronological List (annotated) of Specific and Subspecific Names Applied to American Weasels
Chronological List (annotated) of Specific and Subspecific Names Applied to American Weasels
At least eighty-seven specific and subspecific names have been proposed for American weasels. Of these sixty-nine are now regarded as valid designations of recognizable subspecies. The average is 1.2 names per subspecies. Some names in the following chronological list were a second time applied wholly or in part to some other kind of weasel. In general, mention of the second or any other later application is omitted from the following list but two usages of agilis (1844 and 1853) and of american
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DIAGNOSIS OF THE GENUS
DIAGNOSIS OF THE GENUS
Genus Mustela Linnaeus Weasels, Ferrets, Polecats, Minks Genotype. — Mustela erminea Linnaeus. Diagnosis. —Legs short; body relatively long; adults 190 mm. to 700 mm. in total length; skull ranging in basilar length from 16 to 70 mm.; facial angle slight; tympanic bullae greatly inflated (moderately in Lutreola ), cancellous, and with paroccipital processes closely appressed to bullae; palate behind upper molars; dental formula: inner moiety of M1 larger than outer; P4 with simple deuterocone; i
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EXPLANATION OF SYSTEMATIC TREATMENT
EXPLANATION OF SYSTEMATIC TREATMENT
For each full species there will be found under the account of it the following information: Type, statement of geographic range, selected characters for ready recognition, other characters of the species, a summary of geographic variation, and information on habits, in the order mentioned. For each subspecies, information is presented in the following order: earliest available zoölogical name, synonyms, type, geographic range, zoölogical characters for ready recognition, description (mentioning
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MUSTELA ERMINEA Linnaeus
MUSTELA ERMINEA Linnaeus
Ermine (Synonymy under subspecies) Type. — Mustela erminea Linnaeus, Systema Naturae, 10th ed., p. 46, 1758. Range. —From the British Isles and Atlantic Coast of Europe across Eurasia and North America including Greenland, from the northernmost land, south, in North America, to the lower margin of the Canadian Life-zone; geographically south to Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, northeastern Ohio, southern Michigan, Wisconsin, northern Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, in the Rocky Mountains to n
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MUSTELA RIXOSA (Bangs)
MUSTELA RIXOSA (Bangs)
Least Weasel (Synonymy under subspecies) Type. — Putorius rixosus Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, 10:21, February 25, 1896. Range. —From Norway and Switzerland eastward through Siberia and all the way across North America, but unknown from Iceland, Greenland and the Arctic islands west of Greenland; in North America, from the Arctic Life-zone south to Central British Columbia, Montana and into parts of the Upper Austral Life-zone as in the eastern half of the continent. The southern extensio
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MUSTELA FRENATA Lichtenstein
MUSTELA FRENATA Lichtenstein
Long-tailed Weasel (Synonymy under subspecies) Type. — Mustela frenata Lichtenstein, Darstellung neuer oder wenig bekannter Säugethiere, pl. 42 and corresponding text unpaged. 1832. Range. —From southern Canada southward over all of the United States, México, Central America, Venezuela, and the republics of western South America to southern Perú and extreme northern Bolivia. All the life-zones from Alpine Arctic to Tropical are inhabited. In the extremely desert region of southeastern California
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MUSTELA AFRICANA Desmarest
MUSTELA AFRICANA Desmarest
Tropical Weasel (Synonymy under subspecies) Type. — Mustela africana Desmarest, Nouv. Dict. d'Hist. Nat., vol. 19, p. 376. 1818. Range. —Known from the headwaters of the Amazon in eastern Perú and from near the mouth of the same river, on its southern side in Brazil, all within the Tropical Life-zone. See figure 29 on page 221 . Characters for ready recognition. —Differs from Mustela frenata , the only geographically adjacent species of the genus, by: presence of thenar pad on forefoot; presence
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EXPLANATION OF CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS
EXPLANATION OF CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS
Basilar length (of Hensel).—From the anteriormost border of the foramen magnum to a line connecting the posterior margins of the alveoli of the first upper incisors. F to F' on fig. 31 . Condylobasal length.—Least distance from a line connecting the posteriormost parts of the exoccipital condyles to a line connecting the anteriormost projections of the premaxillary bones. Length of tooth-rows.—Least distance between a line connecting posterior borders of upper molars and a line connecting anteri
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TABLE OF CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS
TABLE OF CRANIAL MEASUREMENTS
(Abbreviations used for names of collections in the table of measurements of Mustela )...
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LITERATURE CITED
LITERATURE CITED
Abbot, C. C. 1884. A naturalist's rambles about home. D. Appleton and Co., New York, 485 pp. Addy, E. 1939. A weasel trails a rabbit. Jour. Mamm., 20:372-373, August 14, 1939. Aldous, S. E. , and Manweiler, J. 1942. The winter food habits of the short-tailed weasel in northern Minnesota. Jour. Mamm., 23:250-255, August 13, 1942. Allen, D. L. 1938. Notes on the killing technique of the New York weasel. Jour. Mamm., 19:225-229, May 14, 1938. 1940. Two recent mammal records from Allegan County, Mic
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