The sea mink (''Neogale macrodon'') is a
recently extinct species of
mink
Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...
that lived on the eastern coast of North America around the
Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast ...
on the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
seaboard. It was most closely related to the
American mink
The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink i ...
(''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 midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...
s. Its actual size is speculative, based largely on tooth remains.
The sea mink was first
described in 1903, after its
extinction
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 ...
; information regarding its external appearance and habits stem from speculation and from accounts made by
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
rs and Native Americans. It may have exhibited behavior similar to the American mink, in that it probably maintained
home ranges
A home range is the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basis. It is related to the concept of an animal's territory which is the area that is actively defended. The concept of a home range was introduced by W. H. Burt in 1943. He ...
, was
polygynandrous
Polygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season. In sexually reproducing diploid animals, different mating strategies are employed by males and females, because the cost of ga ...
, and had a similar diet, though more seaward-oriented. It was probably found on the
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
coast and the
Maritime Provinces
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...
, though its range may have stretched further south during the
last glacial period. Conversely, its range may have been restricted solely to the New England coast, specifically the
Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast ...
, or just to the nearby islands. The largest of the minks, the sea mink was more desirable to fur traders and became extinct in the late 19th or early 20th century.
Taxonomy and etymology
The sea mink was first
described as ''Lutreola macrodon'',
distinct from the American mink, by
Daniel Webster Prentiss, a medical doctor and
ornithologist
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the "methodological study and consequent knowledge of birds with all that relates to them." Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and th ...
, in 1903, after it became
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 ...
. Prentiss based his description on skull fragments recovered from Native American
shell midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and eco ...
s in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...
. Most sea mink remains, nearly all of them skull fragments, have come from shell middens, but a complete specimen has never been found.
Debate has occurred regarding whether the sea mink was its own 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 s ...
, or another subspecies of the American mink
The American mink (''Neogale vison'') is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe, Asia and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink i ...
. Those who argue that the sea mink was a subspecies often refer to it as ''Neovison vison macrodon''.[ A study in 1911 by Frederic Brewster Loomis, an American ]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 fossi ...
, concluded that the differences between the American mink and the sea mink were too minute to justify the latter's classification as a separate species, and he named it ''Lutreola vison antiquus''. A study conducted in 2000 by Mead et al. refuted Loomis by claiming that the size range for the largest sea mink specimen was beyond that of the American mink, thereby making it a separate species.[ But a 2001 study by Graham concluded that this size difference was insufficient evidence to classify the sea mink as its own species and that it should be considered a subspecies. Graham supposed that the size difference was caused by environmental factors. Furthermore, Graham reported that Mead assumed the smaller mink specimens to be the American mink, and the larger mink specimens outside the range of the American mink to be sea minks; this may have been a case of ]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 ani ...
wherein all specimens were sea minks, the larger ones being males and the smaller ones being females.[ A 2007 study compared the dental makeup of the sea mink to the American mink, and concluded that they were distinct enough to be considered two separate species.][
The taxonomy of the minks was revised in 2000, resulting in the formation of a new ]genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
, ''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 ' ...
'', which includes only the sea mink and the American mink. Formerly, both minks were classified in the genus '' Mustela''. The species name ''macrodon'' translates to "large teeth". According to Richard Manville, a naturalist who maintains that the sea mink is not a separate species, its closest relative is the common mink (''N. v. mink''), which also inhabits the New England area.[ A 2021 study into ]New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 3 ...
weasels found that the sea mink, along with 4 other extant species, should be classified into a new genus, ''Neogale''.
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
rs who hunted it gave the sea mink various names, including water marten, red otter, and fisher cat. Possibly the first description of this species was made by Sir Humphrey Gilbert
Sir Humphrey Gilbert (c. 1539 – 9 September 1583) was an English adventurer, explorer, member of parliament and soldier who served during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I and was a pioneer of the English colonial empire in North America ...
in the late 1500s as "a fish like a greyhound
The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurge ...
", which was a reference to its affinity for the sea and its body shape and gait, which were apparently similar to that of a greyhound. It is possible that the fisher
Fisher is an archaic term for a fisherman, revived as gender-neutral.
Fisher, Fishers or The Fisher may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Division of Fisher, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, in Queensland
*Elect ...
(''Pekania pennanti'') got its name from being mistakenly identified as the sea mink, which was also known as the fisher by fur traders. The Abenaki
The Abenaki (Abenaki: ''Wαpánahki'') are an Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands of Canada and the United States. They are an Algonquian-speaking people and part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. The Eastern Abenaki language was predom ...
Indians referred to it as the "mousebeysoo", which means "wet thing".[ It was named "sea mink" because it was always found near the coast by fur traders, and subsequently the American mink was often referred to as the "wood mink".][
]
Range
The sea mink was a marine mammal
Marine mammals are aquatic mammals that rely on the ocean and other marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as seals, whales, manatees, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reli ...
that lived around the rocky coasts of New England and the southernmost Maritime Provinces
The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...
until it was hunted to extinction in the late 19th or early 20th century. Most sea mink remains are unearthed on the coast of Maine. Though it is speculated that they at one point inhabited Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...
and Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
, they were commonly trapped along the coast of the Bay of Fundy
The Bay of Fundy (french: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its extremely high tidal range is the hi ...
(in the Gulf of Maine
The Gulf of Maine is a large gulf of the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of North America. It is bounded by Cape Cod at the eastern tip of Massachusetts in the southwest and by Cape Sable Island at the southern tip of Nova Scotia in the northeast ...
), and it is said that they formerly existed on the southwestern coast of Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
.[ There were reports of unusually large mink furs being collected from Nova Scotia regularly.][ The bones of a specimen unearthed in ]Middleboro, Massachusetts
Middleborough (frequently written as Middleboro) is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,245 at the 2020 census.
History
The town was first settled by Europeans in 1661 as Nemasket, later changed to M ...
, were dated to be around 4,300±300 years old, from salt water.[ The sea mink may have reached that area by traveling up rivers, or may have been brought there by Native Americans. The latter is most likely, as no other mink remains have been discovered between ]Casco Bay
Casco Bay is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine on the southern coast of Maine, New England, United States. Its easternmost approach is Cape Small and its westernmost approach is Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth. The city of Portland sits along its south ...
in Maine and southeastern . Sea mink bones have been unearthed in Canada, although these may have been carried there by Native Americans from the Gulf of Maine. The rugged shorelines of the Down East
"Down East", also "Downeast", is a term for parts of eastern coastal New England and Canada, particularly the U.S. state of Maine and Canada's Maritime Provinces, an area that closely corresponds to the historical French territory of Acadia. Th ...
region of Maine may have represented a northernmost barrier in their range.[ Mead concluded that only American minks inhabited the mainland and that sea minks were restricted to islands off the coast. If this is the case, then all remains found on the mainland were carried there.][ Graham challenged that hypothesis, stating that it is unlikely that all sea mink specimens originate from one population.][
During the last glacial period, ending 12,000 years ago, the sea mink's range may have extended south of the Gulf of Maine. It may have even evolved there, as Maine at that time would have been covered in glaciers, although the oldest known specimen only dates back to around 5,000 years; this could be due to the ]rising sea levels
Rising may refer to:
* Rising, a stage in baking - see Proofing (baking technique)
*Elevation
* Short for Uprising, a rebellion
Film and TV
* "Rising" (''Stargate Atlantis''), the series premiere of the science fiction television program ''Starga ...
—older sea mink remains may be submerged underwater. Alternately, the sea mink may have evolved after the last glacial period and filled a new ecological niche
In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition.
Three variants of ecological niche are described by
It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for ...
.[
]
Description
Since the sea mink has only been described by fragmentary remains, its appearance and behaviors are not well-documented. Its relatives, as well as descriptions by fur traders and Native Americans, give a general idea of this animal's appearance and its ecological roles. Accounts from Native Americans in the New England/Atlantic Canadian regions reported that the sea mink had a fatter body than the American mink. The sea mink produced a distinctive fishy odor, and had fur that was said to be coarser and redder than that of the American mink. It is thought that naturalist Joseph Banks
Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences.
Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James ...
encountered this animal in 1776 in the Strait of Belle Isle
The Strait of Belle Isle (; french: Détroit de Belle Isle ) is a waterway in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Location
The strait is the northern o ...
, and he described it as being slightly larger than a fox, having long legs, and a tail that was long and tapered toward the end, similar to a greyhound.[
The sea mink was the largest of the minks. As only fragmentary skeletal remains of the sea mink exist, most of its external measurements are speculative and rely only on dental measurements.][ In 1929, Ernest Thompson Seton, a wildlife artist, concluded that the probable dimensions for this animal are from head to tail, with the tail being long. A possible mounted sea mink specimen collected in 1894 in Connecticut measured from head to tail and the tail was in length; a 1966 study found this to be either a large American mink or possibly a ]hybrid
Hybrid may refer to:
Science
* Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding
** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species
** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...
. The specimen was described as having coarse fur that was reddish-tan in color, though much of it was likely faded from age. It was darkest at the tail and the hind limbs, with a white patch between the forearms. There were also white spots on the left forearm and the groin region.[
The ]type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
was collected by Prentiss and Frederick True, a biologist, in 1897 in Brooklin, Maine
Brooklin is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 827 at the 2020 census.
History
Brooklin was originally part the larger town of Sedgwick. Brooklin broke off and formed its own town in 1849. A few weeks later, t ...
, the remains of which consist of a maxilla
The maxilla (plural: ''maxillae'' ) in vertebrates is the upper fixed (not fixed in Neopterygii) bone of the jaw formed from the fusion of two maxillary bones. In humans, the upper jaw includes the hard palate in the front of the mouth. The t ...
, parts of the nasal bone, and the palate
The palate () is the roof of the mouth in humans and other mammals. It separates the oral cavity from the nasal cavity.
A similar structure is found in crocodilians, but in most other tetrapods, the oral and nasal cavities are not truly sepa ...
. The teeth are all present on the right side of the palate, and the left side consists of the incisors and one premolar. Other than a chipped canine, all the teeth are in good condition. The specimen is apparently larger than the Alaskan mink (''N. v. nesolestes''), as the average distance between the last incisor to the first molar is in the Alaskan mink, whereas that distance is in the type specimen. The nasal bone has an abrupter ascension, and the carnassial
Carnassials are paired upper and lower teeth modified in such a way as to allow enlarged and often self-sharpening edges to pass by each other in a shearing manner. This adaptation is found in carnivorans, where the carnassials are the modified f ...
teeth make a more acute angle with the gums than those of the common mink (''N. v. mink'').[
These minks were large and heavily built, with a low ]sagittal crest
A sagittal crest is a ridge of bone running lengthwise along the midline of the top of the skull (at the sagittal suture) of many mammalian and reptilian skulls, among others. The presence of this ridge of bone indicates that there are exceptiona ...
and short, wide postorbital process
The postorbital process is a projection on the frontal bone near the rear upper edge of the eye socket. In many mammals, it reaches down to the zygomatic arch, forming the postorbital bar.
References
See also
* Orbital process
In the human ...
es ( projections on the frontal bone
The frontal bone is a bone in the human skull. The bone consists of two portions.''Gray's Anatomy'' (1918) These are the vertically oriented squamous part, and the horizontally oriented orbital part, making up the bony part of the forehead, par ...
behind the eye socket
In anatomy, the orbit is the cavity or socket of the skull in which the eye and its appendages are situated. "Orbit" can refer to the bony socket, or it can also be used to imply the contents. In the adult human, the volume of the orbit is , of ...
s).[ In fact, the most notable characteristic of the skull was its size, in that it was clearly larger than that of other mink species, having a wide ]rostrum
Rostrum may refer to:
* Any kind of a platform for a speaker:
**dais
**pulpit
* Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects
* Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ships
* Ros ...
, large nostril openings, large antorbital fenestra
An antorbital fenestra (plural: fenestrae) is an opening in the skull that is in front of the eye sockets. This skull character is largely associated with archosauriforms, first appearing during the Triassic Period. Among extant archosaurs, bird ...
e (openings in the skull in front of the eye socket), and large teeth. Their large size was probably in response to their coastal environment, as the largest extant subspecies of American mink, the Alaskan mink (''N. v. nesolestes''), inhabits the Alexander Archipelago
The Alexander Archipelago (russian: Архипелаг Александра) is a long archipelago (group of islands) in North America lying off the southeastern coast of Alaska. It contains about 1,100 islands, the tops of submerged coastal m ...
in Alaska, an area with a habitat
In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...
similar to the Gulf of Maine. Mead, concluding that the mink was restricted to nearshore islands, suggested that the large size was due to insular gigantism
Island gigantism, or insular gigantism, is a biological phenomenon in which the size of an animal species isolated on an island increases dramatically in comparison to its mainland relatives. Island gigantism is one aspect of the more general Fos ...
. Since almost all members of the subfamily 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 ( ...
exhibit sexual dimorphism, male sea minks were probably larger than female sea minks. The sea mink's wider carnassial teeth and blunter carnassial blades suggest that they crushed hard shells more often than did the teeth of the American mink.
Behavior
Although not a truly marine species, being confined to coastal waters, the sea mink was unusually aquatic compared to other members of Musteloidea
Musteloidea is a superfamily of carnivoran mammals united by shared characters of the skull and teeth. Musteloids are the sister group of pinnipeds, the group which includes seals.
The Musteloidea consists of the families Ailuridae ( red pandas) ...
, being, next to otter
Otters are carnivorous mammals in the subfamily Lutrinae. The 13 extant otter species are all semiaquatic, aquatic, or marine, with diets based on fish and invertebrates. Lutrinae is a branch of the Mustelidae family, which also includes wea ...
s, the most aquatic member of the taxon
In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
.[ As marine mammal species often play a large part in their ecosystems, the sea mink could have been an important ]intertidal
The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of Marine habitat, habitats with var ...
predator. It may have had a similar diet to the American mink, consuming seabirds, seabird eggs, and hard-bodied marine invertebrates, though in greater proportions.[ Its seafood-oriented diet may have increased its size.] Remains of toad sculpins and ocean pout
The ocean pout (''Zoarces americanus'') is an eelpout in the family Zoarcidae. It is found in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of New England and eastern Canada. The fish has antifreeze proteins in its blood, giving it the ability to ...
were the most common around their dens, and garden banded snails were also reported to have been part of their diet.[
According to fur traders, the sea mink was ]nocturnal
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite.
Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...
and resided in caves and rock crevices during the day.[ It reportedly made a den with two entrances in the rocks piled up by the ]waves
Waves most often refers to:
*Waves, oscillations accompanied by a transfer of energy that travel through space or mass.
* Wind waves, surface waves that occur on the free surface of bodies of water.
Waves may also refer to:
Music
* Waves (ban ...
.[ Like other minks, individual sea minks may have maintained ]home ranges
A home range is the area in which an animal lives and moves on a periodic basis. It is related to the concept of an animal's territory which is the area that is actively defended. The concept of a home range was introduced by W. H. Burt in 1943. He ...
, and since the males were larger and required more food, males would have had larger territorial claims. Likewise, their larger size may have allowed the males to target larger prey than the females, and they may have had to defend females during mating seasons. Like other weasels, the sea mink was probably polygynandrous
Polygynandry is a mating system in which both males and females have multiple mating partners during a breeding season. In sexually reproducing diploid animals, different mating strategies are employed by males and females, because the cost of ga ...
, with both sexes mating with multiple individuals.[ Due to the overlap of American mink and sea mink ranges, it is possible that they hybridized with each other.][
]
Exploitation and extinction
The sea mink was pursued by fur traders due to its large size; this made it more desirable than other mink species further inland. The unregulated fur trade eventually led to its extinction, which is thought to have occurred between 1860 and 1920.[ The sea mink was seldom sighted after 1860. The last two recorded kills of a sea mink were made in Maine in 1880 near ]Jonesport, Maine
Jonesport is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The population was 1,245 at the 2020 census. Jonesport is a fishing and lobstering town. It contains the villages or hamlets of Jonesport, Mason Bay, Monsapec, and West Jonesport. ...
, and Campobello Island, New Brunswick
Campobello Island (, also ) is the largest and only inhabited island in Campobello, a civil parish in southwestern New Brunswick, Canada, near the border with Maine, United States. The island's permanent population in 2021 was 949. It is the si ...
, in 1894,[ although the 1894 kill is speculated to be of large American minks.][ Fur traders made traps to catch sea minks and also pursued them with dogs, although they were rarely trapped. If a sea mink escaped into a small hole on the rocky ledges, it was dug out by hunters using shovels and crowbars. If it was out of reach of the hunters, it was shot and then retrieved using an iron rod with a screw on the far end. If it was hiding, it was smoked out and suffocated.][ The minks' nocturnal behavior may have been caused from pressure by fur traders who hunted them in daylight.][
Since the remains of brain cases found in shell middens are broken and many of the bones found exhibit cut marks, it is assumed that the sea mink was hunted by Native Americans for food, and possibly for exchange and ceremonial purposes.][ One study looking at the remains in shell middens in ]Penobscot Bay
Penobscot Bay (french: Baie de Penobscot) is an inlet of the Gulf of Maine and Atlantic Ocean in south central Maine. The bay originates from the mouth of Maine's Penobscot River, downriver from Belfast, Maine, Belfast. Penobscot Bay has many ...
reported that sea mink craniums were intact, more so than that of other animals found, implying that they were specifically placed there. Males were more often collected than females.[
]
References
External links
*
Arkive.org
{{Authority control
Mammals described in 1903
Extinct animals of the United States
Extinct animals of Canada
Extinct mammals of North America
Mammal extinctions since 1500
Marine mammals
Mustelinae
Species made extinct by human activities
Species endangered by use in wearables
Semiaquatic mammals
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN