Least weasel
(Mustela nivalis)[] | |
|---|---|
| Species ID: | 3-6-50-2782-14871 |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mustelidae |
| Genus: | Mustela |
| Conservation status: | LC - Least Concern (2015) |
| Population trend: | Stable |
| Links: | ADW / IUCN Red List / Wikipedia |
Subspecies[]
- M. n. allegheniensis (Allegheny least weasel)
- M. n. boccamela (Transcaucasian least weasel)
- M. n. campestris (Plains least weasel)
- M. n. caucasica (Caucasian least weasel)
- M. n. eskimo (Alaskan least weasel)
- M. n. heptneri (Turkmenian least weasel)
- M. n. namiyei (Japanese least weasel)
- M. n. nivalis (Common least weasel)
- M. n. numidica (Mediterranean least weasel)
- M. n. pallida (Montane Turkestan least weasel)
- M. n. pygmaea (Siberian least weasel)
- M. n. rixosa (Bangs' least weasel)
- M. n. russelliana (Sichuan least weasel)
- M. n. vulgaris (Middle European least weasel)
Other Names[]
- Little weasel
- Common weasel
- Weasel
Physical Description[]
| Avg. length: | Males: 130 - 260 mm
Females: 114 - 204 mm |
|---|---|
| Avg. mass: | Males: 36 - 250 g
Females: 29 - 117 g |
| Colors: | Summer: Dark-chocolate, Dark-tawny, Pale sandy, White
Winter: White |
Lifespan[]
| Avg. lifespan in wild: | 1 - 2 (max 4) years |
|---|---|
| Avg. lifespan in captivity: | 5 - 6 (max 10) years |
Reproduction[]
| Mating system: | Polygyandrous |
|---|---|
| Breeding season: | March - July |
| Mode of reproduction: | Viviparous |
| Gestation period: | 34 - 37 days |
| Avg. litter size: | 4 - 6 (max 15) kits |
| Parental care: | Female |
| Breeding interval: | 2 (range 1 - 3) per year |
| Maturity: | 1 year |
Behavior & Ecology[]
| Activity: | Diurnal, Crepuscular, Nocturnal |
|---|---|
| Sociality: | Solitary |
| Avg. group size: | 1 individual |
| Group ratio: | 1 : 1 |
| Movement: | Sedentary |
| Avg. territory size: | 0.2 - 1 (max 6) km² |
| Elevation range: | 0 - 3,860 m asl |
| Systems: | Terrestrial, Fossorial |
| Diet: | Rodents, Small mammals, Eggs, Lizards, Amphibians, Fish, Invertebrates, Worms, Carrion |
| Predators: | Other mustelids, Owls, Raptors (adults) / Foxes, Snakes (juveniles) |
Habitats[]
Major[]
- 1.1 Boreal forests
- 1.2 Subarctic forests
- 1.4 Temperate forests
- 3.3 Boreal shrublands
- 3.4 Temperate shrublands
- 4.2 Subarctic grasslands
- 4.4 Temperate grasslands
- 13.3 Coastal sand dunes
- 14.4 Rural gardens
Suitable[]
- 5.3 Shrub wetlands
- 6.1 Mountain cliffs and peaks
- 14.1 Arable lands
- 14.2 Pasturelands
Distribution[]
Ecoregion range
Ecozones[]
Terrestrial Ecoregions[]
- NA0401 Allegheny Highlands forests
- NA0402 Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests
- NA0403 Appalachian-Blue Ridge forests
- NA0406 Eastern forest-boreal transition
- NA0407 Eastern Great Lakes lowland forests
- NA0414 Southern Great Lakes forests
- NA0415 Upper Midwest forest-savanna transition
- NA0416 Western Great Lakes forests
- NA0501 Alberta Mountain forests
- NA0502 Alberta-British Columbia foothills forests
- NA0509 Central British Columbia Mountain forests
- NA0514 Fraser Plateau and Basin complex
- NA0518 North Central Rockies forests
- NA0520 Northern Pacific coastal forests
- NA0521 Northern transitional alpine forests
- NA0601 Alaska Peninsula montane taiga
- NA0602 Central Canadian Shield forests
- NA0603 Cook Inlet taiga
- NA0604 Copper Plateau taiga
- NA0605 Eastern Canadian forests
- NA0606 Eastern Canadian Shield taiga
- NA0607 Interior Alaska-Yukon lowland taiga
- NA0608 Mid-Continental Canadian forests
- NA0609 Midwestern Canadian Shield forests
- NA0610 Muskwa-Slave Lake forests
- NA0612 Northern Canadian Shield taiga
- NA0613 Northern Cordillera forests
- NA0614 Northwest Territories taiga
- NA0616 Southern Hudson Bay taiga
- NA0617 Yukon Interior dry forests
- NA0802 Canadian Aspen forests and parklands
- NA0803 Central and Southern mixed grasslands
- NA0804 Central forest-grasslands transition
- NA0805 Central tall grasslands
- NA0807 Flint Hills tall grasslands
- NA0808 Montana Valley and Foothill grasslands
- NA0809 Nebraska Sand Hills mixed grasslands
- NA0810 Northern mixed grasslands
- NA0811 Northern short grasslands
- NA0812 Northern tall grasslands
- NA0815 Western short grasslands
- NA1101 Alaska-St. Elias Range tundra
- NA1103 Arctic coastal tundra
- NA1104 Arctic foothills tundra
- NA1106 Beringia lowland tundra
- NA1107 Beringia upland tundra
- NA1108 Brooks-British Range tundra
- NA1111 Interior Yukon-Alaska alpine tundra
- NA1114 Low Arctic tundra
- NA1115 Middle Arctic tundra
- NA1116 Ogilvie-MacKenzie alpine tundra
- NA1117 Pacific Coastal Mountain icefields and tundra
- NA1118 Torngat Mountain tundra
- PA0401 Appenine deciduous montane forests
- PA0402 Atlantic mixed forests
- PA0404 Balkan mixed forests
- PA0405 Baltic mixed forests
- PA0406 Cantabrian mixed forests
- PA0407 Caspian Hyrcanian mixed forests
- PA0408 Caucasus mixed forests
- PA0409 Celtic broadleaf forests
- PA0410 Central Anatolian deciduous forests
- PA0411 Central China loess plateau mixed forests
- PA0412 Central European mixed forests
- PA0413 Central Korean deciduous forests
- PA0414 Changbai Mountains mixed forests
- PA0416 Crimean Submediterranean forest complex
- PA0418 Dinaric Mountains mixed forests
- PA0419 East European forest steppe
- PA0420 Eastern Anatolian deciduous forests
- PA0421 English Lowlands beech forests
- PA0422 Euxine-Colchic broadleaf forests
- PA0423 Hokkaido deciduous forests
- PA0426 Manchurian mixed forests
- PA0428 Nihonkai montane deciduous forests
- PA0429 North Atlantic moist mixed forests
- PA0430 Northeast China Plain deciduous forests
- PA0431 Pannonian mixed forests
- PA0432 Po Basin mixed forests
- PA0433 Pyrenees conifer and mixed forests
- PA0435 Rodope montane mixed forests
- PA0436 Sarmatic mixed forests
- PA0438 South Sakhalin-Kurile mixed forests
- PA0439 Southern Korea evergreen forests
- PA0443 Ussuri broadleaf and mixed forests
- PA0444 Western Siberian hemiboreal forests
- PA0445 Western European broadleaf forests
- PA0446 Zagros Mountains forest steppe
- PA0501 Alps conifer and mixed forests
- PA0502 Altai montane forest and forest steppe
- PA0503 Caledon conifer forests
- PA0504 Carpathian montane forests
- PA0505 Da Hinggan-Dzhagdy Mountains conifer forests
- PA0507 Elburz Range forest steppe
- PA0510 Hokkaido montane conifer forests
- PA0511 Honshu alpine conifer forests
- PA0512 Khangai Mountains conifer forests
- PA0513 Mediterranean conifer and mixed forests
- PA0515 Northern Anatolian conifer and deciduous forests
- PA0519 Sayan montane conifer forests
- PA0520 Scandinavian coastal conifer forests
- PA0521 Tian Shan montane conifer forests
- PA0601 East Siberian taiga
- PA0603 Kamchatka-Kurile meadows and sparse forests
- PA0604 Kamchatka-Kurile taiga
- PA0605 Northeast Siberian taiga
- PA0606 Okhotsk-Manchurian taiga
- PA0607 Sakhalin Island taiga
- PA0608 Scandinavian and Russian taiga
- PA0609 Trans-Baikal conifer forests
- PA0610 Ural montane forests and tundra
- PA0611 West Siberian taiga
- PA0801 Alai-Western Tian Shan steppe
- PA0802 Altai steppe and semi-desert
- PA0803 Central Anatolian steppe
- PA0804 Daurian forest steppe
- PA0805 Eastern Anatolian montane steppe
- PA0806 Emin Valley steppe
- PA0808 Gissaro-Alai open woodlands
- PA0809 Kazakh forest steppe
- PA0810 Kazakh steppe
- PA0811 Kazakh upland
- PA0812 Middle East steppe
- PA0813 Mongolian-Manchurian grassland
- PA0814 Pontic steppe
- PA0815 Sayan Intermontane steppe
- PA0816 Selenge-Orkhon forest steppe
- PA0817 South Siberian forest steppe
- PA0818 Tian Shan foothill arid steppe
- PA0901 Amur meadow steppe
- PA0903 Nenjiang River grassland
- PA0907 Suiphun-Khanka meadows and forest meadows
- PA1001 Altai alpine meadow and tundra
- PA1007 Khangai Mountains alpine meadow
- PA1008 Kopet Dag woodlands and forest steppe
- PA1010 Mediterranean High Atlas juniper steppe
- PA1014 Pamir alpine desert and tundra
- PA1016 Sayan Alpine meadows and tundra
- PA1019 Tian Shan montane steppe and meadows
- PA1101 Arctic desert
- PA1102 Bering tundra
- PA1103 Cherskii-Kolyma mountain tundra
- PA1104 Chukchi Peninsula tundra
- PA1105 Kamchatka Mountain tundra and forest tundra
- PA1106 Kola Peninsula tundra
- PA1107 Northeast Siberian coastal tundra
- PA1108 Northwest Russian-Novaya Zemlya tundra
- PA1110 Scandinavian montane birch forest and grasslands
- PA1111 Taimyr-Central Siberian tundra
- PA1112 Trans-Baikal Bald Mountain tundra
- PA1114 Yamal-Gydan tundra
- PA1201 Aegean and Western Turkey sclerophyllous and mixed forests
- PA1202 Anatolian conifer and deciduous mixed forests
- PA1207 Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests
- PA1208 Iberian conifer forests
- PA1209 Iberian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests
- PA1210 Illyrian deciduous forests
- PA1211 Italian sclerophyllous and semi-deciduous forests
- PA1212 Mediterranean acacia-argania dry woodlands and succulent thickets
- PA1213 Mediterranean dry woodlands and steppe
- PA1214 Mediterranean woodlands and forests
- PA1215 Northeastern Spain and Southern France Mediterranean forests
- PA1216 Northwest Iberian montane forests
- PA1217 Pindus Mountains mixed forests
- PA1218 South Appenine mixed montane forests
- PA1219 Southeastern Iberian shrubs and woodlands
- PA1220 Southern Anatolian montane conifer and deciduous forests
- PA1221 Southwest Iberian Mediterranean sclerophyllous and mixed forests
- PA1222 Tyrrhenian-Adriatic sclerophyllous and mixed forests
- PA1305 Azerbaijan shrub desert and steppe
- PA1306 Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert
- PA1308 Caspian lowland desert
- PA1305 Azerbaijan shrub desert and steppe
- PA1306 Badghyz and Karabil semi-desert
- PA1308 Caspian lowland desert
- PA1310 Central Asian northern desert
- PA1311 Central Asian riparian woodlands
- PA1312 Central Asian southern desert
- PA1313 Central Persian desert basins
- PA1314 Eastern Gobi desert steppe
- PA1315 Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe
- PA1316 Great Lakes Basin desert steppe
- PA1317 Junggar Basin semi-desert
- PA1318 Kazakh semi-desert
- PA1319 Kopet Dag semi-desert
- PA1320 Mesopotamian shrub desert
- PA1330 Taklimakan desert