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Mustelidae Morphology

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Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior

Introduction

Despite recent molecular data evidenced that skunks do not lie within the mustelid group (Sato et al. 2012), Mustelidae, bearing 56 species in 22 genera, are the largest and oldest family in the order Carnivora (Nyakatura and Bininda-Emonds 2012). The family originated in Eurasia in the middle-late Miocene and underwent a rapid evolution and diversification, resulting in a remarkable ecomorphological diversity (Koepfli et al. 2008). Koepfli et al. (2008) identified two major clades, Lutrinae and Mustelinae, and eight minor clades of Mustelidae. American and honey badgers (genera Taxidea and Mellivora) are monotypic lineages basal to all other mustelids. The clade Martinae, including taira, wolverine, hog badger, Eurasian badgers (genus Meles), and martens (genus Martes), is in turn basal to the clades Helictinae (ferret badgers), Galictinae (spotted and striped aposematic species: grisons, zorillas, the marbled polecat, and the African striped weasel), Mustelinae (minks...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Envix Lab – Department Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise, Pesche, Italy

    Anna Loy

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  1. Anna Loy
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Correspondence to Anna Loy .

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  1. Oakland University , Rochester, MI, USA

    Jennifer Vonk

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Todd Shackelford

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  1. Federal Institute Farroupilha, Panambi, RS, Brasil

    Caroline Leuchtenberger

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Loy, A. (2018). Mustelidae Morphology. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1210-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1210-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

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