The Amazon weasel (''Neogale africana''), also known as the tropical weasel, is a species of New World weasel native to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. It was first identified from a museum specimen mislabelled as coming from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, hence the scientific name.

Taxonomy

Originally described in the genus '' Mustela'', a 2021 study reclassified it into the genus ''

Neogale ''Neogale'' (colloquially referred to as the New World weasels) is a genus of Carnivora, carnivorous, highly active small Mammal, mammals belonging to the Mustelidae family (which also contains badgers, weasels, martens, otters, and wolverines, ...

'' along with two 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 have three pairs of teats.

Distribution and habitat

Amazon weasels are known to inhabit the

Amazon basin The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributary, tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries ...

in north-central

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, northern

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and eastern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

and

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. However, the full extent of their range is unknown, and they probably also inhabit southern

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

and the Guyanas. The region is covered by

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are dense and warm rainforests with high rainfall typically found between 10° north and south of the Equator. They are a subset of the tropical forest biome that occurs roughly within the 28° latitudes (in the torrid zo ...

, and, while detailed habitat preferences are unknown, the weasel has mostly been recovered near rivers. The Amazon weasel exhibits a unique scale-dependent pattern of habitat selection, favoring specific microhabitats characterized by varying vegetation density and prey availability, which is crucial for its survival in tropical and subtropical forests. Caviedes-Solis, I. et al. (2022). Distribution patterns of South American mustelids (Carnivora: Mustelidae). Journal of Mammalogy, 103(4), 900-908. Two subspecies are recognised: * ''N. a. africana'' (northeastern Brazil) * ''N. a. stolzmanni'' (northwestern Brazil, Peru, Ecuador)

Biology and behaviour

The Amazon weasel is rarely seen and little is known of its habits. They eat

rodents Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia ( ), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...

and other small mammals, and have been reported to construct burrows in the

stumps In cricket, the stumps are the three vertical posts that support the bails and form the wicket. '' Stumping'' or ''being stumped'' is a method of dismissing a batsman. The umpire ''calling stumps'' means the play is over for the day. Part of ...

of hollow trees.Emmons, L.H. (1997). ''Neotropical Rainforest Mammals'', 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press They have been found from sea level to , and have been reported to swim in

rivers A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

, sometimes far from the shore.

Conservation status

The Amazon weasel is considered a

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

species because scientists know little about them. Their population is unknown and they have only been registered anywhere 24 times (as of July 2024). An Amazon weasel had never been filmed until 2024, when some coffee producers captured a short video of an individual in

as part of a

citizen science The term citizen science (synonymous to terms like community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is research conducted with participation from the general public, or am ...

monitoring program. Despite the extremely small number of observations, Amazon weasels are listed as a Least Concern species on the

IUCN Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological spe ...

because scientists believe they still have a sizable population living in the Amazonian forest. It is not known whether this species can handle anthropogenic disturbances in the environment and their numbers may drop significantly in the future due to the

deforestation of the Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, spanning an area of 3,000,000 km2 (1,200,000 sq mi), is the world's largest rainforest. It encompasses the largest and most biodiverse tropical rainforest on the planet, representing over half of all rainforests. The ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q116894337, from2=Q1137422 Weasels Fauna of the Amazon Carnivorans of Brazil Mammals of Bolivia Mammals of Ecuador Mammals of Peru Mammals described in 1818 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN