| Neogale | |
|---|---|
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| Long-tailed weasel (N. frenata) | |
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| American mink (N. vison) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mustelidae |
| Subfamily: | Mustelinae |
| Genus: | Neogale Gray, 1865 |
| Type species | |
| Mustela frenata[1] | |
| Species | |
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| Neogale range, including non-native areas | |
| Synonyms | |
Neogale (colloquially referred to as theNew World weasels) is agenus ofcarnivorous, highly active smallmammals belonging to theMustelidae family (which also containsbadgers,weasels,martens,otters, andwolverines, among others). Native to theAmericas, members of the genus can be found as far north asAlaska and as far south asArgentina andBolivia. Across this distribution, they thrive in a range of habitats, from the deep-freezes of the Alaskan and Canadianboreal forests to the ariddesert southwest, and from the humid tropics ofCentral andSouth America (including theAmazon basin) to the windswept foothills of theAndes and northernPatagonia.
Members of this genus were formerly classified into the generaMustela andNeovison, but many studies had previously recovered several American species ofMustela, as well as both species withinNeovison, to comprise aclade (ormonophyletic group) distinct from all other members of Mustelinae.[2][3] A 2021 study found this clade to havediverged fromMustela during the LateMiocene, between 11.8 - 13.4 million years ago, with all members within the clade being more closely related to one another than to any of the other species inMustela, and gave it the nameNeogale, which was originally coined byJohn Edward Gray.[1] TheAmerican Society of Mammalogists later accepted this change.[4]
| New World weasels |
| Taxonomy ofNeogale[5] |
There are 5 recent species in the genus, 4 extant and 1 extinct:[4]
| Common name | Scientific name and subspecies | Range | Size and ecology | IUCN status and estimated population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon weasel | Neogale africana (Desmarest, 1800) Two subspecies
| Amazon Basin ofSouth America | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Colombian weasel | Neogale felipei (Izor and de la Torre, 1978) | Andes ofColombia andEcuador | Size: Habitat: Diet: | VU |
| Long-tailed weasel
| Neogale frenata (Lichtenstein, 1831) | ContinentalNorth America south of southernCanada; Andes and northern Amazon Basin in South America | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| American mink
| Neogale vison (Schreber, 1777) Fifteen subspecies
| North America (United States and Canada); introduced to Europe, Japan, Chile and Argentina | Size: Habitat: Diet: | LC |
| Image | Scientific name | Common name | Distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Neogale macrodon(Prentiss, 1903) | Sea mink | Maritime Provinces inCanada,New England in theUnited States; now extinct |
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