_Remarks._--The earliest of the post-Linnaean references to this weasel
mostly were under the specific name _erminea_ in the belief that the
American animal was the same as the larger of the two common species of
weasel in the Old World. The name _noveboracensis_, now in use for this
subspecies, was applied in 1840 and since that time the males usually
have borne that name; the females, because they are smaller, were more
frequently confused with some other species. Audubon and Bachman in
1853 even proposed the name _agilis_ for the female in the mistaken
belief that it was a species distinct from the male. After 1896, when
Bangs correctly classified the weasels of the eastern United States,
the males have been correctly identified and the females, except by a
few authors, likewise have been correctly named. Because many early
American naturalists did their first collecting of mammals in the
geographic range of _noveboracensis_, the person who examines labels of
specimens of this subspecies can find data written in the hand of
Spencer Fullerton Baird, Theodore Roosevelt, and other naturalists
famous for their work as scientists or accomplishments otherwise. The
material is more nearly adequate than is that of many other subspecies
and the number of specimens is exceeded--and only slightly--by that of
the subspecies _nevadensis_, which like _noveboracensis_ has a
relatively large geographic range.
Intergradation with _Mustela frenata spadix_ is indicated by subadult
males from western Wisconsin, namely, one from Gordon, three from
Colfax and one from Meridean. Linear measurements of the teeth of these
specimens are exactly intermediate between those of _spadix_ from Elk
River, Minnesota, to the west, and _noveboracensis_ from, say, Beaver
Dam, Wisconsin, to the east. The specimens from western Wisconsin show
approach to spadix also in that the length of the tooth-rows and
breadth of the rostrum are slightly greater than in _noveboracensis_
from farther east, say, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.
Indeed, animals from as far east as Beaver Dam itself might be thought
of as showing some approach to _spadix_. Although, along the eastern
seaboard, the upper lips, with rare exceptions, are the same color as
the underparts, farther west, in Michigan and Wisconsin, the lips more
often than not are white. Animals from Beaver Dam have slightly shorter
black tips on the tails, broader extent of the light color of the
underparts and females average slightly larger than typical
_noveboracensis_, say, those from Massachusetts. Each of these
differences reflects characters found better developed in the
_spadix-longicauda_ stock to the west.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account