Weasel

Weasel
Least Weasel
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Mustelidae
Subfamily:	Mustelinae
Genus:	Mustela Linnaeus, 1758
Species
Mustela africana Mustela altaica Mustela erminea Mustela eversmannii Mustela felipei Mustela frenata Mustela itatsi Mustela kathiah Mustela lutreola Mustela lutreolina Mustela nigripes Mustela nivalis Mustela nudipes Mustela putorius Mustela sibirica Mustela strigidorsa Mustela subpalmata

Weasels are mammals forming the genus Mustela of the Mustelidae family. They are small, active predators, long and slender with short legs.

Weasels vary in length from 12 to 45 centimetres (5 to 18 in), and usually have a red or brown upper coat and a white belly; some populations of some species moult to a wholly white coat in winter. They have long slender bodies, which enable them to follow their prey into burrows. Their tails may be from 22 to 33 centimetres (9 to 13 in) long. As is typical of small omnivores, weasels have a reputation for cleverness and guile.

Weasels feed on small mammals, and have from time to time been considered vermin since some species took poultry from farms, or rabbits from commercial warrens. Certain species of weasel and ferrets have been reported to perform the mesmerizing weasel war dance, after fighting other creatures, or acquiring food from competing creatures. In folklore at least, this dance is particularly associated with the stoat .

Weasels occur all across the world except for Antarctica, Australia, and neighbouring islands.

Terminology

The English word "weasel" (pronounced /ˈwiːzəl/) was originally applied to one species of the genus, the European form of the Least Weasel (Mustela nivalis). This usage is retained in British English, where the name is also extended to cover several other small species of the genus. However, in technical discourse and in American usage the term "weasel" can refer to any member of the genus, or to the genus as a whole. Of the 17 extant species currently classified in the genus Mustela, ten have "weasel" in their common name. Among those that do not are the stoat or ermine, the polecats or ferrets, and the European Mink (the superficially similar American Mink is now regarded as belonging in another genus, Neovison).

Collective nouns for a group of weasels include boogle, gang, pack, sneak and confusion.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Species

The following information is according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System.

¹ Europe & Northern Asia division excludes China.

The extinct "Sea mink" was commonly included in this genus as Mustela macrodon, but in 1999 was moved to the genus Neovison.^[4]

References

• "Mustela". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=180552. Retrieved 24 July 2007. 
• Nowak, Ronald M., and Ernest P. Walker. Walker's Carnivores of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. ISBN 0801880335, ISBN 0801880327.
• C. Hart Merriam, Synopsis of the Weasels of North America, Washington, Government Printing Office, 1896.

Footnotes