European mink
European mink | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Mustelidae |
Genus: | Mustela |
Species: | M. lutreola
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Binomial name | |
Mustela lutreola (Linnaeus, 1761)
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European mink range Extant, resident
Probably Extant, resident Extinct
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The European mink (Mustela lutreola), also known as the Russian mink and Eurasian mink, is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to Europe.
It is similar in colour to the American mink, but is slightly smaller and has a less specialized skull.[2] Despite having a similar name, build and behaviour, the European mink is not closely related to the American mink, being much closer to the European polecat and Siberian weasel (kolonok).[3][4] The European mink occurs primarily by forest streams unlikely to freeze in winter.[5] It primarily feeds on voles, frogs, fish, crustaceans and insects.[6]
The European mink is listed by the
Evolution and taxonomy
Fossil finds of the European mink are very rare, thus indicating the species is either a relative newcomer to Europe, probably having originated in
Subspecies
As of 2005[update],[12] seven subspecies are recognised.
Subspecies | Trinomial authority | Description | Range | Synonyms |
---|---|---|---|---|
Northern mink M. l. lutreola ( Nominate subspecies )
|
Linnaeus, 1758 | The pelt is dark brownish-chestnut or dark brown with a diffuse broad belt on the back. The tail tip is black and the underfur is dark bluish-grey. The overall pelage is long, compact and silky. Adult males measure 365–380 mm (14.4–15.0 in) in body length and have a tail length of 36–42 mm (1.4–1.7 in) (38% of its body length).[13] | Northern European Russia and Finland | alba (de Sélys Longchamps, 1839) alpinus (Ogérien, 1863) |
French mink M. l. biedermanni |
Matschie, 1912 | France | armorica (Matschie, 1912) | |
M. l. binominata | Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951 | caucasica (Novikov, 1939) | ||
Middle European mink M. l. cylipena |
Matschie, 1912 | A very large subspecies, it is only slightly smaller than M. l. turovi. The fur is quite dark and corresponds to the colour of M. l. novikovi. Adult males measure 420–430 mm (17–17 in) in length, while females measure 370–400 mm (15–16 in). Tail length in males is 160 mm (6.3 in), while in females it is 140–180 mm (5.5–7.1 in).[14] | The former Yugoslavia and Poland )
|
albica (Matschie, 1912) budina (Matschie, 1912) |
Middle Russian mink M. l. novikovi |
Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1951 | A moderately-sized subspecies, it is slightly larger than M. l. lutreola. It is lighter-coloured than M. l. lutreola, being dark tawny or dark brown with a film of light reddish highlights. The dark belt on the back is weakly defined or absent. The pelage is overall shorter, less dense and less silky than M. l. lutreola. Adult males measure 360–420 mm (14–17 in) in body length.[15] | The middle zone of the European part of the Don and lower Volga regions)
|
borealis (Novikov, 1939) |
Carpathian mink Mustela l. transsylvanica |
Éhik, 1932 | Smaller than M. l. turovi, with dark tawny fur[16] | Moldavia, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia | ehiki (Kretzoi, 1942) hungarica (Éhik, 1932) |
Caucasian mink M. l. turovi |
Kuznetsov in Novikov, 1939 | A large-sized subspecies, it has quite long, but sparse and coarse pelage and less compact underfur. The fur is light tawny or light brown with clear rusty highlights. The underfur is light bluish-grey. White chest markings are much more frequent in this subspecies than in others. The ends of the limbs are often white. Adult males usually measure more than 42 cm (17 in) long.[15] | The Caucasus, the lower Don and lower Volga regions, probably eastern Ukraine |
Description
Build
The European mink is a typical representative of the genus Mustela, having a greatly elongated body with short limbs. However, compared to its close relative, the Siberian weasel, the mink is more compact and less thinly built, thus approaching ferrets and European polecats in build. The European mink has a large, broad head with short ears. The limbs are short, with relatively well-developed membranes between the digits, particularly on the hind feet. The mink's tail is short, and does not exceed half the animal's body length (constituting about 40% of its length).[17] The European mink's skull is less elongated than the kolonok's, with more widely spaced zygomatic arches and has a less massive facial region. In general characteristics, the skull is intermediate in shape between that of the Siberian weasel and the European polecat. Overall, the skull is less specialized for carnivory than that of polecats and the American mink. Males measure 373–430 mm (14.7–16.9 in) in body length, while females measure 352–400 mm (13.9–15.7 in). Tail length is 153–190 mm (6.0–7.5 in) in males and 150–180 mm (5.9–7.1 in).[18] Overall weight is 550–800 grams (1.21–1.76 lb).[9] It is a fast and agile animal, which swims and dives skilfully. It is able to run along stream beds, and stay underwater for one to two minutes.[19] When swimming, it paddles with both its front and back limbs simultaneously.[5]
Fur
The winter fur of the European mink is very thick and dense, but not long, and quite loosely fitting. The underfur is particularly dense compared with that of more land-based members of the genus Mustela. The guard hairs are quite coarse and lustrous, with very wide contour hairs which are flat in the middle, as is typical in aquatic mammals. The length of the hairs on the back and belly differ little, a further adaptation to the European mink's semiaquatic way of life. The summer fur is somewhat shorter, coarser and less dense than the winter fur, though the differences are much less than in purely terrestrial mustelids.[20]
In dark coloured individuals, the fur is dark brown or almost blackish-brown, while light individuals are reddish brown. Fur colour is evenly distributed over the whole body, though in a few cases, the belly is a bit lighter than the upper parts. In particularly dark individuals, a dark, broad dorsal belt is present. The limbs and tail are slightly darker than the trunk. The face has no colour pattern, though its upper and lower lips and chin are pure white. White markings may also occur on the lower surface of the neck and chest. Occasionally, colour mutations such as
Differences from American mink
The European mink is similar to the American mink, but with several important differences. The tail is longer in the American species, almost reaching half its body length. The winter fur of the American mink is denser, longer and more closely fitting than that of the European mink. Unlike the European mink, which has white patches on both upper and lower lips, the American mink almost never has white marks on the upper lip.[21] The European mink's skull is much less specialised than the American species' in the direction of carnivory, bearing more infantile features, such as a weaker dentition and less strongly developed projections.[22] The European mink is reportedly less efficient than the American species underwater.[5]
Behaviour
Territorial and denning behaviours
The European mink does not form large territories, possibly due to the abundance of food on the banks of small water bodies. The size of each territory varies according to the availability of food; in areas with water meadows with little food, the home range is 60–100 hectares (150–250 acres), though it is more usual for territories to be 12–14 hectares (30–35 acres). Summer territories are smaller than winter territories. Along shorelines, the length of a home range varies from 250–2,000 m (270–2,190 yd), with a width of 50–60 m (55–66 yd).[23]
The European mink has both a permanent burrow and temporary shelters. The former is used all year except during floods, and is located no more than 6–10 m (6.6–10.9 yd) from the water's edge. The construction of the burrow is not complex, often consisting of one or two passages 8–10 cm (3.1–3.9 in) in diameter and 1.40–1.50 m (1.53–1.64 yd) in length, leading to a nest chamber measuring 48 cm × 55 cm (19 in × 22 in). Nesting chambers are lined with straw, moss, mouse wool and bird feathers.[23] It is more sedentary than the American mink, and will confine itself for long periods in its burrow in very cold weather.[5]
Reproduction and development
During the
Diet
The European mink has a diverse diet consisting largely of aquatic and
Range and status
The European mink is mostly restricted to Europe. Its range was widespread in the 19th century, with a distribution extending from northern Spain in the west to the river Ob (just east of the Urals) in the east, and from the Archangelsk region in the north to the northern Caucasus in the south. Over the last 150 years, though, it has severely declined by more than 90% and been extirpated or greatly reduced over most of its former range. The current range includes an isolated population in northern Spain and western France, which is widely disjunct from the main range in Eastern Europe (Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, central regions of European Russia, the Danube Delta in Romania and northwestern Bulgaria). It occurs from sea level to 1,120 m (1,220 yd).[1] In Estonia, the European mink population has been successfully re-established on the island of Hiiumaa, and there are plans for repeating the process on the nearby island of Saaremaa.[25]
Decline
The earliest actual records of decreases in European mink numbers occurred in
Possible reasons for decline
Habitat loss
Habitat-related declines of European mink numbers may have started during the Little Ice Age, which was further aggravated by human activity.[5] As the European mink is more dependent on wetland habitats than the American species, its decline in Central Europe, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Moldova and Ukraine has been linked to the drainage of small rivers. In mid-19th-century Germany, for example, European mink populations declined in a decade due to expanded land drainage. Although land improvement and river dredging certainly resulted in population decreases and fragmentation, in areas which still maintain suitable river ecosystems, such as Poland, Hungary, the former Czechoslovakia, Finland and Russia, the decline preceded the change in wetland habitats, and may have been caused by extensive agricultural development.[7]
Overhunting
The European mink was historically hunted extensively, particularly in Russia, where in some districts, the decline prompted a temporary ban on mink hunting to let the population recover. In the early 20th century, 40–60,000 European minks were caught annually in the Soviet Union, with a record of 75,000 individuals (an estimate which exceeds the modern global European mink population). In Finland, annual mink catches reached 3000 specimens in the 1920s. In Romania, 10,000 minks were caught annually around 1960. However, this reason alone cannot account for the decline in areas where hunting was less intense, such as in Germany.[7]
Decline of crayfish
The decline of
Competition with the American mink and disease
The American mink was introduced and released in Europe during the 1920s–1930s. The American mink is less dependent on wetland habitats than the European mink and is 20-40% larger. The impact of feral American minks on European mink populations has been explained through the competitive exclusion principle and because the American mink reproduces a month earlier than the European species, and matings between male American minks and female European minks result in the embryos being reabsorbed. Thus, female European minks impregnated by male American minks are unable to reproduce with their conspecifics. Though the presence of the American mink has coincided with the decline of European mink numbers in Belarus and Estonia, the decline of the European mink in some areas preceded the introduction of the American mink by many years, and there are areas in Russia where the American species is absent, though European mink populations in these regions are still declining.[7]
Diseases spread by the American mink can also account for the decline.
Hybridisation and competition with the European polecat
In the early 20th century, northern Europe underwent a warm climatic period which coincided with an expansion of the range of the European polecat. The European mink possibly was gradually absorbed by the polecat due to hybridisation. Also, competition with the polecat has greatly increased, due to landscape change favouring the polecat.[7] There is one record of a polecat attacking a mink and dragging it to its burrow.[24]
Polecat-mink hybrids are termed khor'-tumak by furriers
Predation
Predators of the European mink include the European polecat, the American mink, the golden eagle, large owls[5] and the red fox. Red fox numbers have increased greatly in areas where the wolf and Eurasian lynx have been extirpated, as well as areas where modern forestry is practised. As red foxes are known to prey on mustelids, excessive fox predation on the European mink is a possible factor, though it is improbable to have been a factor in Finland, where fox numbers were low during the early 20th century.[7]
References
Notes
- ^ . Retrieved 11 November 2021.
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 1391
- ^ a b Davidson, A., Griffith, H. I., Brookes, R. C., Maran, T., MacDonald, D. W., Sidorovich, V. E., Kitchener, A. C., Irizar, I., Villate, I., Gonzales-Esteban, J., Cena, A., Moya, I. and Palazon Minano, S. 2000. Mitochondrial DNA and paleontological evidence for the origin of endangered European mink, Mustela lutreola Archived 20 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Animal Conservation 3: 345–357.
- ^ a b MARMI, J., LÓPEZ-GIRÁLDEZ, J.F. & DOMINGO-ROURA, X. (2004). Phylogeny, Evolutionary History and Taxonomy of the Mustelidae based on Sequences of the Cytochrome b Gene and a Complex Repetitive Flanking Region. Zoologica Scripta, 33: 481 - 499
- ^ a b c d e f g h Youngman, Phillip M. (1990). Mustela lutreola, Archived 18 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Mammalian Species, American Society of Mammalogists, No. 362, pp. 1–3, 2 figs
- ^ a b Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1101–1102
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Maran, T. and Henttonen, H. 1995. Why is the European mink, Mustela lutreola disappearing? - A review of the process and hypotheses. Annales Fennici Zoologici 32: 47–54.
- ^ Kurtén 1968, p. 98
- ^ a b c Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1086–1088
- ^ a b c Sidorovich, V. (2001) Finding on the ecology of hybrids between the European mink Mustela lutreola and polecat M.putorius at the Lovat upper reaches, NE Belarus Archived 16 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine Small Carnivore Conservation 24: 1-5
- ^ a b c Tumanov, Igor L. & Abramov, Alexei V. (2002) A study of the hybrids between the European Mink Mustela lutreola and the Polecat M. putorius Archived 28 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine Small Carnivore Conservation 27: 29-31
- OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 1095
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 1098
- ^ a b Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1096–1097
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 1099
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 1080
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1083–1084
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 1103
- ^ a b Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1081–1082
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1392–1397
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1398–1399
- ^ a b Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1102–1103
- ^ a b c Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 1104–1105
- ^ Karáth, Kata (16 August 2017). "Scientists think they can save the European mink—by killing its ruthless rivals". Science. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
- ^ a b c "Khonorik: Hybrids between Mustelidae". Russian Ferret Society. Archived from the original on 31 July 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
Bibliography
- Bachrach, Max (1953). "Fur: a practical treatise" (3rd ed.). New York : Prentice-Hall.
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(help) - Kurtén, Björn (1968). "Pleistocene mammals of Europe". Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - Heptner, V. G.; Sludskii, A. A. (2002). Mammals of the Soviet Union. Vol. II, part 1b, Carnivores (Mustelidae and Procyonidae). Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Libraries and National Science Foundation. ISBN 90-04-08876-8.
- Macdonald, David (1992). The Velvet Claw: A Natural History of the Carnivores. New York: Parkwest. ISBN 0-563-20844-9.