European Polecat

European Polecat
European Polecats
Conservation status

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Mustelidae
Genus: Mustela
Species: M. putorius
Binomial name
Mustela putorius
(Linnaeus, 1758)
Painting of Putorius foetidus (Mustela putorius)

The European Polecat (Mustela putorius), also known as a fitch, foumart, or foulmart, is a member of the Mustelidae family, and is related to the stoats, otters, and minks. Polecats are dark brown with a lighter bandit-like mask across the face, pale yellow underbody fur, a long tail and short legs. They are somewhat larger than weasels but smaller than otters, weighing between 0.7 kg for females to 1.7 kg for males. The European Polecat is the wild ancestor of the domesticated ferret.

Contents

Range, habitat and ecology

Polecats are found throughout Europe.[2] They are mainly nocturnal and are found in woodlands, farmlands and wetlands. They often make dens in stream banks or under tree roots. Almost entirely carnivorous, they feed largely on small mammals such as voles and rats and, seasonally, on frogs and toads. Small birds and insects are a much smaller component of their diet.[3] They require a home range of about a square kilometre. The pattern of polecat predation on frogs was found to be sex selective and predation by polecats is found to influence sex ratio, male abundance and sexual conflict in a frog mating system, restricting the opportunity for multiple mating.[4]

Reproduction

Though polecats are chiefly polygynous, females can be polyandrous.[5] The sexual conflict of the mating system can change with environmental conditions. Sexual conflict may result in sexually antagonistic co-evolution, in which one sex evolves a "manipulative" character which is countered by a "resistance" trait in the other sex.

Polecat tracks

Hybridisation

Polecats (mainly dark phenotype) are able to hybridise with the rare European mink and have fertile hybrids.[6] In some parts of England the abandoning of domestic ferrets has led to ferret-polecat hybrids living in the wild. Often hybrids have a less distinct facial mask, light throat patches and lighter fur especially on the undersides. However there are some hybrids that are almost indistinguishable from pure polecats.

The native polecat has made a recovery across much of central and southern England thanks in part to reintroduction programmes. Recent DNA studies have shown that the pure native polecats have become firmly reestablished and are not becoming greatly hybridised.[7] It has been suggested that the hybrid animals containing domesticated ferret genes are less well adapted to life in the wild than native polecats as the hybrids tend to be distributed near or beyond the main polecat range.

Other species

Other species of polecat include the Steppe Polecat (M. eversmanii) and the European Mink (M. lutreola). Most zoologists believe that the domestic ferret (M. putorius furo) is descended from the European Polecat, or possibly from a hybrid of the European and steppe varieties. The Zorilla, also called the striped polecat (Ictonyx striatus), lives in subsaharan Africa.

References

  1. ↑ Fernandes, M., Maran, T., Tikhonov, A., Conroy, J., Cavallini, P., Kranz, A., Herrero, J., Stubbe, M., Abramov, A. & Wozencraft, C. (2008). Mustela putorius. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 21 March 2009. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
  2. ↑ Mapmaker at european-mammals.org, accessed November 2007
  3. ↑ Lode, T. (2000). "Functional response and area-restricted search in a predator: seasonal exploitation of anurans by the European polecat, Mustela putorius". Austral Ecology 25: 223. doi:10.1046/j.1442-9993.2000.01024.x. 
  4. ↑ Lodé T, Holveck MJ, Lesbarrères D, Pagano A (December 2004). "Sex-biased predation by polecats influenced the mating system of frogs". Proc. Biol. Sci. 271 Suppl 6: S399–401. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2004.0195. PMID 15801586. 
  5. ↑ Lodé, Thierry (2001). "Mating system and genetic variance in a polygynous mustelid, the European polecat.". Genes & Genetic Systems 76: 221. doi:10.1266/ggs.76.221. 
  6. ↑ Lodé T, Guiral G, Peltier D (2005). "European mink-polecat hybridization events: hazards from natural process?". J. Hered. 96 (2): 89–96. doi:10.1093/jhered/esi021. PMID 15653561. 
  7. ↑ Vincent Wildlife Trust/The Mammal Society Polecat Survey 2004-2006

External links