The secondary sexual variation, which has been detected, is in size of
the animal, relative length of the tail and shape of the skull. The
female is the smaller. In the small _Mustela rixosa_ and apparently in
_Mustela africana_ the secondary sexual difference in size is
relatively slight. In _Mustela frenata_ and _Mustela erminea_, males
are approximately twice as heavy as females, the degree of difference
very definitely depending upon the subspecies. For example, in _M. e.
richardsonii_ the recorded weights are 175 and 69 grams as opposed to
81 and 54 grams in _M. e. cicognanii_. In general, within one species
the greatest difference in size of males and females is in those
subspecies in which the animals are of large size. The secondary sexual
variation in size is much more than the individual variation in either
sex. The same is not true of secondary sexual difference in length of
the tail (relative to the length of the head and body), which in
eighteen subspecies of _M. erminea_ is from 1 to 7 per cent longer in
males than in females. In two subspecies, _M. e. haidarum_ and _M. e.
olympica_, the tail is a fraction of a per cent the longer in females
if we may rely upon the few specimens for which collectors'
measurements are available.
In both _M. erminea_ and _M. frenata_ the skull of the female is
approximately 45 per cent lighter than that of the male, or put in the
opposite way, the skull of the male is 83 per cent heavier than the
skull of the female. The difference in this respect varies greatly
depending on the subspecies. For example, the skull of the male is 127
per cent heavier than that of the female in _M. e. richardsonii_ but
only 33 per cent heavier in _M. e. anguinae_. In _Mustela frenata_, the
subspecies _noveboracensis_ shows most sexual dimorphism in weight of
skull (3.6 and 1.7 grams) and _olivacea_ the least (5.3 and 3.8 grams).
In general, the difference in this respect is less in subspecies the
individuals of which are of small size.
Therefore, as might be expected, the secondary sexual variation in
weight of the skull is less in _M. rixosa_, individuals of which are of
small size, than in _M. erminea_ or than in _M. frenata_, in general of
larger size. Nevertheless, in _M. africana_, in which the individuals
are of large size, there appears to be less sexual dimorphism in weight
of the skull than in _M. frenata_ or than in _M. erminea_, although it
should be remarked that there are too few data for _M. africana_ to
allow of forming a trustworthy conclusion concerning the amount of
secondary sexual variation in that species.
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