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Sea Mink
The sea mink (''Neogale macrodon'') is a recently extinct species of mink that lived on the eastern coast of North America around the Gulf of Maine on the New England seaboard. It was most closely related to the American mink (''Neogale vison''), with continuing debate about whether or not the sea mink should be considered a subspecies of the American mink (as ''Neogale vison macrodon'') or a species of its own. The main justification for a separate species designation is the size difference between the two minks, but other distinctions have been made, such as its redder fur. The only known remains are bone fragments unearthed in Native American shell middens. Its actual size is speculative, based largely on tooth remains. The sea mink was first described in 1903, after its extinction; information regarding its external appearance and habits stem from speculation and from accounts made by fur traders and Native Americans. It may have exhibited behavior similar to the American ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holocene
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene together form the Quaternary period. The Holocene has been identified with the current warm period, known as MIS 1. It is considered by some to be an interglacial period within the Pleistocene Epoch, called the Flandrian interglacial.Oxford University Press – Why Geography Matters: More Than Ever (book) – "Holocene Humanity" section https://books.google.com/books?id=7P0_sWIcBNsC The Holocene corresponds with the rapid proliferation, growth and impacts of the human species worldwide, including all of its written history, technological revolutions, development of major civilizations, and overall significant transition towards urban living in the present. The human impact on modern-era Earth and its ecosystems may be considered of gl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neovison
''Neogale'' is a genus of mustelid native to the Americas, ranging from Alaska south to Bolivia. Members of this genus are known as New World weasels. Taxonomy Members in this genus were formerly classified into the genera '' Mustela'' and '' Neovison'', but many studies had previously recovered several American species of ''Mustela'', as well as both species within ''Neovison'', to comprise a monophyletic clade distinct from all other members of Mustelinae. A 2021 study found this clade to have diverged from ''Mustela'' during the Late Miocene, 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 in ''Mustela'', and gave it the name ''Neogale'', originally coined by John Edward Gray John Edward Gray, FRS (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclature, the genus name forms the first part of the binomial species name for each species within the genus. :E.g. ''Panthera leo'' (lion) and ''Panthera onca'' (jaguar) are two species within the genus '' Panthera''. ''Panthera'' is a genus within the family Felidae. The composition of a genus is determined by taxonomists. The standards for genus classification are not strictly codified, so different authorities often produce different classifications for genera. There are some general practices used, however, including the idea that a newly defined genus should fulfill these three criteria to be descriptively useful: # monophyly – all descendants of an ancestral taxon are grouped together (i.e. phylogenetic analysis should clea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Long-tailed Weasel
The long-tailed weasel (''Neogale frenata''), also known as the bridled weasel, masked ermine, or big stoat, is a species of mustelid distributed from southern Canada throughout all the United States and Mexico, southward through all of Central America and into northern South America. It is distinct from the short-tailed weasel (''Mustela erminea''), also known as a "stoat", a close relation in the genus '' Mustela'' that originated in Eurasia and crossed into North America some half million years ago; the two species are visually similar, especially the black tail tip. Taxonomy Originally described in the genus '' Mustela'', a 2021 study reclassified it into the genus ''Neogale'' along with 2 other former ''Mustela'' species, as well as the two species formerly classified in ''Neovison''. Evolution The long-tailed weasel is the product of a process begun 5–7 million years ago, when northern forests were replaced by open grassland, thus prompting an explosive evolution of s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colombian Weasel
The Colombian weasel (''Neogale felipei''), also known as Don Felipe's weasel, is a very rare species of weasel only known with certainty from the departments of Huila and Cauca in Colombia and nearby northern Ecuador (where it is only known from a single specimen). Both its scientific and alternative common name honours the mammalogist Philip "Don Felipe" Hershkovitz. It appears to be largely restricted to riparian habitats at an altitude of . There is extensive deforestation within its limited distribution within the northern Andes of Colombia and Ecuador, and with less than 10 known specimens, it is probably the rarest carnivoran in South America.Novak, R. M. 1999. ''Walker's Mammals of the World''. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. It is considered vulnerable by the IUCN. It is the second-smallest living carnivoran on average, being only slightly larger than the least weasel (''Mustela nivalis'') and slightly smaller than the stoat or ermine ('' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amazon Weasel
The Amazon weasel (''Neogale africana''), also known as the tropical weasel, is a species of weasel native to South America. It was first identified from a museum specimen mislabelled as coming from Africa, hence the scientific name. Taxonomy Originally described in the genus '' Mustela'', a 2021 study reclassified it into the genus ''Neogale'' along with 2 other former ''Mustela'' species, as well as the two species formerly classified in '' Neovison''. Description The largest of the three species of South American weasel, Amazon weasels measure in total length, including a tail long. They have a typical body form for weasels, with a long, slender, torso and short legs and ears. They have short fur which varies from reddish to dark brown on the upper body, and is pale orange-tan on the underparts. A stripe of fur the same colour as that on the upper body runs down the centre of the chest and throat. The whiskers are short and the soles of the feet almost hairless. Females ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mustelinae
Mustelinae is a subfamily of family Mustelidae, which includes weasels, ferrets and minks. __TOC__ It was formerly defined in a paraphyletic manner to also include wolverines, martens, and many other mustelids, to the exclusion of the otters ( Lutrinae). Extant species of Mustelinae Subfamily Mustelinae The sea mink (''Neogale macrodon'') is a recently extinct species from the 19th century that was native to the Maritime Provinces of Canada and New England in the United States. Importance for humans Some of the fashion furs come from this subfamily: ermine, weasel, mink and polecat. Ferret model of COVID-19 COVID-19 can infect both the European mink (''Mustela lutreola'') and the American mink (''Neogale vison''). Ferrets are used to study COVID-19. Ferrets get some of the same symptoms as humans, but they get less sick than farmed mink. Ferrets are a fairly uncommon animal to use as a model, but mice were not an easy model of COVID-19 because mice lack the ACE2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexual Dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most animals and some plants. Differences may include secondary sex characteristics, size, weight, colour, markings, or behavioural or cognitive traits. These differences may be subtle or exaggerated and may be subjected to sexual selection and natural selection. The opposite of dimorphism is ''monomorphism'', which is when both biological sexes are phenotypically indistinguishable from each other. Overview Ornamentation and coloration Common and easily identified types of dimorphism consist of ornamentation and coloration, though not always apparent. A difference in coloration of sexes within a given species is called sexual dichromatism, which is commonly seen in many species of birds and reptiles. Sexual selection leads to the exaggerated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paleontologist
Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossils to classify organisms and study their interactions with each other and their environments (their paleoecology). Paleontological observations have been documented as far back as the 5th century BC. The science became established in the 18th century as a result of Georges Cuvier's work on comparative anatomy, and developed rapidly in the 19th century. The term itself originates from Greek (, "old, ancient"), (, (gen. ), "being, creature"), and (, "speech, thought, study"). Paleontology lies on the border between biology and geology, but differs from archaeology in that it excludes the study of anatomically modern humans. It now uses techniques drawn from a wide range of sciences, including biochemistry, mathematics, and engineeri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. Other ways of defining species include their karyotype, DNA sequence, morphology, behaviour or ecological niche. In addition, paleontologists use the concept of the chronospecies since fossil reproduction cannot be examined. The most recent rigorous estimate for the total number of species of eukaryotes is between 8 and 8.7 million. However, only about 14% of these had been described by 2011. All species (except viruses) are given a two-part name, a "binomial". The first part of a binomial is the genus to which the species belongs. The second part is called the specific name or the specific epithet (in botanical nomenclature, also s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extinct
Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point. Because a species' potential range may be very large, determining this moment is difficult, and is usually done retrospectively. This difficulty leads to phenomena such as Lazarus taxa, where a species presumed extinct abruptly "reappears" (typically in the fossil record) after a period of apparent absence. More than 99% of all species that ever lived on Earth, amounting to over five billion species, are estimated to have died out. It is estimated that there are currently around 8.7 million species of eukaryote globally, and possibly many times more if microorganisms, like bacteria, are included. Notable extinct animal species include non-avian dinosaurs, saber-toothed cats, dodos, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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