Many people would think of a weasel when they see the tiny bundle of fur speeding through the vast open fields. This animal is actually called the short tail weasel, or the stoat. The stoat is a very small carnivorous mammal that looks like it is always having fun. It is very quick for its size and is rather agile when running at its high speeds. Stoats are bold, witty, and playful creatures of the wilderness. Stoats are part of the group of species that is considered “least concerned” by IUCN Species Survival Commission. Even though they are one of the least concerned species, with people continuing to hunt them down for fur, they might become one of the vulnerable species.
Stoats are small compared to the world as a whole. There is a lot that many people do not know about when it comes to its relatives and how it lives. For example, stoats were originally introduced in New Zealand during the 1800s because the rabbit population was starting to become a problem and stoats are also considered pests in the wildlife (Mustela erminea, 2013). Over many years, the species has spread out all over the globe. Stoats can now be found in places like Canada, Asia, the northern part of USA, and even in the Arctic regions.
There are many species with the same subfamily as well. For example, other species with the same subfamily as the stoat are ferrets, minks, and long tail weasels. There are also others but, those three have many similar characteristics to the stoat, so it is rather easy to see that they are all related in one way or another. There are also wolverines that don’t look similar to the stoat at all but, they are both still related to each other because they belong to the same family (Loso, 2013).
Going along with that, stoats a...
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Geptner, V. G. (1998). Mammals of the Soviet Union. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Libraries [etc.]
Loso, H. (2013, November 7). Mustela erminea. Retrieved from Animal Diversity Web: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Mustela_erminea/#2643cc98d50e48aeb1d64abae8c3a3e4
Mustela erminea. (2013, November 7). Retrieved from Red List: http://maps.iucnredlist.org/map.html?id=29674
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Ruff, S. D. (1999). The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals. In S. D. Ruff, The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Tlingit Ermine-Skin Shirt (Daa dugu k'oodas'). (2014, 4 3). Retrieved from Daa dugu k'oodas': http://www.corbisimages.com/stock-photo/rights-managed/IH011277/tlingit-ermineskin-shirt-daa-dugu-koodas
1.A lot of people are misinformed, have misconceptions, or might not have any idea at all about what these animals are about. The ferret family, which includes weasels, mink, polecats, martins, skunks, badgers, otters, wolverines, and the endangered black-footed ferret. Early Greek literature suggests that unlike its cousins, the ferret has been domesticated for approximately two to three thousand years.
Lemurs are known to be not only the most endangered mammal, but possibly the most endangered vertebrates on the planet. According to IUCN’s Red list of Threatened species, it is reported that “23 of the species are now considered 'critically endangered,' 52 are 'endangered,' and 19 are 'vulnerable'” (Andrainarivo). Simpona lemurs are one of the most endangered species of lemurs. In total there are approximately less than 250 mature Simpona lemurs in the wild as of 2013 (Andrainarivo). The Simpona lemur is only found in a small mountainous area of northeastern Madagascar. Of the many endangered species of lemurs in Madagascar, the Simpona is one of the three most critically endangered. Not only are they one of the top three critically endangered species of lemurs, but are known to be one of the top 25 mo...
The Cooper’s Hawk, breeds mostly in the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico. This species was named in 1828 by Charles Bonaparte for his friend and collogue William C. Cooper. They are migratory birds that focus highly on thermal air for direction. Female Cooper’s Hawk is one third larger than the males, and this species is a great example of dimorphism. They are among one of the most reverse sized dimorphism of any hawks in the world. They breed in forests and dense woods. They are also noticed to live in suburban and urban habitats. They consume prey of different sizes, including birds and mammals such as doves, robins, chipmunks, squirrels, and different rodents. In mid 1990s, the eastern population of the birds declined significantly. Some major causes of this decline in population include trapping, pesticide contamination, pollution, and shooting. Thereby, the specie is stamped as threatened or endangered species in some eastern states. Although their population was low, it is slowing recovering now in many areas. Over the years, this specie has been studied intensively by ornithologists and they have put in a collaborative effort to document the specie’s habitat and other characteristics.
Pagad, Shyama. "Sciurus Carolinensis (mammal)." Issg.org. IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG), 17 Oct. 2005. Web. 26 Mar. 2014.
In the Maus series, the life of Vladek during the Holocaust was detailed. The animals were used to illustrate a point of view.
The ferret, known to the scientific community as Mustela Furo, is a domesticated version the European pole-cat and has been introduced into many parts of the world. But they threaten native prey species, ground nesting and flightless birds. Their habitat usually consists of semi-forested areas near a source of water. In Europe, you can usually find them in dune systems with large rabbit populations. In New Zealand they reside in grasslands, scrub, forest fringes, and suburban areas. Some ferrets are in a different category than Mustela Furo. The black-footed ferret is far from invasive; in fact there are probably only 1 thousand in the wild today. Those numbers are thanks to wildlife conservationists like zoos and some Native American tribes. Most of these ferrets reside in the grasslands of the Northern Great Plains. Mustela nigripes (the black-footed ferret) and Mustela Furo are very similar physically. They weigh close to the same amount and have similar heights/lengths but one of the main features that make them so drastically different is their food supply. Mustela Furo usually ...
Kautz, Randy et al. How much is enough? Landscape-scale conservation for the Florida panther. Biological Conservation 2006, 130: 118-133
They evolved into 2 different species by many factors in nature. The factors include genetic drift, mutation, natural selection, and etc. Genetic drift involves the bottleneck effect and the founder effect. I hypothesize that a bottleneck effect took place in the island that the rodents were living in. A natural disaster must of happened and the rodents that had high fitness survived. Therefore since one population survived, that makes them two separate species. I also hypothesize that there was a founder effect in the population of the rodents. A small portion of rodents migrated to Nevis island and reproduced. When this happened this created a whole new population of rodents. Another reason that they could have been 2 different species can be due to gene flow. Some rodents could of migrated to Nevis island.
The project at Yellowstone was met with some apprehension. Biologists there feared that without the fear of predation during the past few generations, the resident moose at Yellowstone would not fear the wol...
Both the snow leopard and the green turtle are classified as endangered under the IUCN red list with decreasing population trends. Both live in very different habita...
The arctic fox or the Vulpes Lagopus is a very beautiful and majestic animal with many interesting features. This animal can survive extremely frigid arctic temperatures that can drop as low as -50°F. The arctic fox is a very resilient animal. It has furry soles, short ears, and a short muzzle, which are the essentials of what is needed for the animals to adapt to the chilly climate. These foxes usually live in burrows and in emergencies like snowstorms, strong winds or animal conflict, they may tunnel into the snow and create a shelter for them. They have a beautiful white coat that protects them from the hardy weather. Amusingly, when the season changes, the fox changes its coat color making it a unique animal. In winter, their coat is white where as in summer its turns into an orange-red color. This is mostly because it helps them camouflage in the surrounding. These colorings help foxes to effectively hunt rodents, birds, fish and even baby polar bear cubs. But in winter prey can be scarce on the ground. At such times, these animals eat the left over kill of the polar bear. These foxes will also eat berries when they are available. Its coat has been known for its strange adapting qualities, it is a rarity in science today and therefore is highly researched. Not only does it have a thick coat that helps them camouflage and protects them from the cold, but also has the ability to run extremely fast. It is known to be one of the fastest animals in the arctic region.
The likelihood of the four-toed hedgehog going extinct is very improbable. They have an extensive range and are very stable in regards to their wildlife population. They continue to grow in the wild and animal experts have not seen any alarming declines in the population rates. Hence, they have a minimal conservation status. But with the four-toed hedgehog’s development into a popular exotic household pet, there have been some concerns about the threatening of the native populations in Africa. Luckily, there is a breeding stock that is present in the United States that supplies this pet demand. Furthermore, it is prohibited to transport the four-toed hedgehog animals out of Africa to the pet trade market. These regulations allow for the native populations to flourish (Nichols 2014)
Sutherland, W.J. (1996), Mammals, in Ecological Census Techniques, (Ed. W.J. Sutherland) Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
The phenomenal recent discovery of the species saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis), was found in the Annamite Mountains along the Laos/Vietnam border in 1992. The saola was the first latest large mammal to be discovered in over 50 years, making it one of the biggest zoological discoveries of the 20th century. Also known as the “Asian unicorn,” the rare saola species prefer living in moist, dense evergreen forests with little or no dry season. The saolas have been attempting to survive in the condensed regions of the subtropical evergreen or mixed evergreen and deciduous forests, only found within the Annamite Mountain Range along the northwest-southeast Vietnam-Laos border (Holcomb). The area of the narrow range of the forests that the saola used to inhabit was is 5,000 to 15,000 sq. km, although they don’t inhabit in this area anymore. The saolas’ extremely scarce numbers make their dispersal difficult to determine; currently, they are known to be densely populated into the decreasing area of the evergreen forests and travel mainly individually and occasionally in clumped dispersion. They have been mainly sighted nearby streams, most likely to survive off of the water and possible supplies nearby. Saolas also tend to live on the borderlines of the forests; they currently inhabit the mountain forests during the wetter seasons and live in the lowlands during the winter. Saola are currently known to be herbivores, eating leafy plants, fig leaves, and stems along the rivers, observed from locals that have sighted them. And their shelters that they specifically reside in are unknown.
Sikes, Roberts. and William L. Gannon. "Guidelines of the American Society of Mammalogists for the Use of Wild Mammals in Research." Journal of Mammalogy 92.1 (Feb. 2011): 235-253. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 5 Oct. 2011.