The Mustelidae are a family of carnivorous mammals, including weasels, badgers, otters, martens, and wolverines. Mustelids are a diverse group and form the largest family in the suborder Caniformia of the order Carnivora with about 66 to 70 species in nine subfamilies.
Pteranodon ; from Ancient Greek πτερόν and ἀνόδων is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with P. longiceps having a wingspan of over 6 m (20 ft). They lived during the late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present-day Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, South Dakota and Alabama. More fossil specimens of Pteranodon have been found than any other pterosaur, with about 1,200 specimens known to science, many of them well preserved with nearly complete skulls and articulated skeletons. It was an important part of the animal community in the Western Interior Seaway.
Weasels are mammals of the genus Mustela of the family Mustelidae. The genus Mustela includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bodies and short legs. The family Mustelidae, or mustelids, is often referred to as the "weasel family". In the UK, the term "weasel" usually refers to the smallest species, the least weasel (M. nivalis), the smallest carnivoran species.
The stoat, also known as the Eurasian ermine, Beringian ermine and ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern portions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is distinct from the long-tailed weasel, also known as the "masked ermine", or "big stoat"; the two species are visually similar, especially the black tail tip.
The European polecat, also known as the common polecat, black polecat, or forest polecat, is a species of mustelid native to western Eurasia and North Africa. It is of a generally dark brown colour, with a pale underbelly and a dark mask across the face. Occasionally, colour mutations including albinos, leucists, isabellinists, xanthochromists, amelanists and erythrists occur. It has a shorter, more compact body than other Mustela species, a more powerfully built skull and dentition, is less agile, and is well known for having the characteristic ability to secrete a particularly foul-smelling liquid to mark its territory.
The honey badger, also known as the ratel, is a mammal widely distributed in Africa, Southwest Asia, and the Indian subcontinent. Because of its wide range and occurrence in a variety of habitats, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
Ekorus ekakeran is a large, extinct mustelid mammal. Fossils, including largely complete skeletons, are known from the late Miocene of Kenya.
A grison, , also known as a South American wolverine, is any mustelid in the genus Galictis. Native to Central and South America, the genus contains two extant species: the greater grison, which is found widely in South America, through Central America to southern Mexico; and the lesser grison, which is restricted to the southern half of South America.
Merycoidodon is an extinct genus of herbivorous artiodactyl of the family Merycoidodontidae, more popularly known by the name Oreodon. It was endemic to North America during the Middle Eocene to Middle Miocene existing for approximately 30 million years.
Geosternbergia is an extinct genus of pteranodontid pterodactyloid pterosaur from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America. Geosternbergia was one of the largest pterosaur genera, and had a wingspan of up to 3–6 metres (9.8–19.7 ft).
The cat gap is a period in the fossil record of approximately 25 million to 18.5 million years ago in which there are few fossils of cats or cat-like species found in North America. The cause of the "cat gap" is disputed, but it may have been caused by changes in the climate, changes in the habitat and environmental ecosystem, the increasingly hypercarnivorous trend of the cats, volcanic activity, evolutionary changes in dental morphology of the Canidae species present in North America, or a periodicity of extinctions called van der Hammen cycles.
Megalictis is an extinct genus of large predatory mustelids that existed in North America during the "cat gap" from the Late Arikareean (Ar4) in the Miocene epoch. It is thought to have resembled a huge, jaguar-sized ferret, weighing up to 60–100 kilograms (130–220 lb).
Archaeohippus is an extinct three toed member of the family Equidae known from fossils of early Oligocene to middle Miocene age. The genus is noted for several distinct skeletal features. The skull possesses deeply pocketed fossa in a notably long preorbital region. The genus is considered an example of phyletic dwarfism with adults estimated at being on average 20kg in weight. This is in contrast to the most common equid of the period, Miohippus. Characters of the teeth show a mix of both primitive and advanced traits. The advanced traits are very similar to those shown in the genus Parahippus. The noted similarities of Archaeohippus and Parahippus show them to be descended from a common ancestor and are considered sister species.
Trigonictis macrodon is an extinct species of mammal related to the living grison (genus Galictis). It lived in North America during the Pliocene to Pleistocene epochs, from ~4.1–1.6 Ma. (AEO), existing for approximately 2.5 million years. Fossil specimens have been found across the United States, from Washington and Oregon in the northwest to California and Florida in the south.
Palaeogale is an extinct genus of carnivorous mammal known from the Late Eocene, Oligocene, and Early Miocene of North America, Europe, and Eastern Asia. A small carnivore often associated with the mustelids, Palaeogale might have been similar to living genets, civets, and linsangs.
Pontolis is an extinct genus of large walrus. It contained three species, P. magnus, P. barroni, and P. kohnoi. Like all pinnipeds, Pontolis was a heavily built amphibious carnivore. Pontolis lived along the Pacific coast of North America along what is now the western coasts of California and Oregon between 11.608 and 5.332 million years ago, during the Miocene and Pliocene.
Enhydriodon is an extinct genus of otters known from Africa, Pakistan, and India that lived from the late Miocene to the early Pleistocene. It contains 9 confirmed species, 2 debated species, and at least a few other undescribed species from Africa. The genus belongs to the tribe Enhydriodontini in the subfamily Lutrinae. While Indian subcontinental species were moderate in size, some African species are the largest mustelids to have ever existed. Enhydriodon means “otter tooth” in Ancient Greek, and it is not a reference to the Enhydra genus but rather the fossilized dentition. It is classified as a member of the bunodont otters group, a categorical term referring to fossil otters with non-bladelike carnassials in the premolars or molars that lived from the Miocene to the Pleistocene and the sole extant sea otter of the Enhydra genus. The type species, E. sivalensis, was described from the Indian subcontinent, but over time, more species were described from the continent of Africa.
Eomellivora is an extinct genus of prehistoric mustelids, closely related to the honey badger, known from Eurasia and North America, and tentatively Africa. It was one of the biggest mustelids ever known, bigger and more hypercarnivorous than the modern wolverine.
Pekania is a genus of mustelid that contains a single living species, the fisher (Pekania pennanti). Formerly placed in the genus Martes, it was determined to be distinct enough to be placed within its own genus. A 2013 study also identified several fossil species formerly in Martes that are more closely related – and probably ancestral – to the fisher, moving them into Pekania as well.
The American ermine or American stoat is a species of mustelid native to most of North America.
