Mustela+Nivalis

**Mustela Nivalis** **Common Name - Least Weasel**  **__Unique Features__** > **When a newborn is born they are naked, blind and deaf.**  **Their predators are owls, hawks, and snakes**
 * **Kingdom - Animalia**
 * **Phylum - Chordata** [[image:http://mrrohanbio.wikispaces.com/site/embedthumbnail/placeholder?w=200&h=50 width="243" height="207"]]
 * **CLass - Mammalia Number of offspring is 1 to 7.**
 * **Order - Carnivora When they kill they go for the neck.**
 * **Family - Mustelidae**
 * **Genus - Mustela __Other Facts__**
 * **Species - Mustela Nivalis Mustela nivalis are heterotrophs.**
 * **Domain - Eukarya **

**//__Description__//** The Mustela nivalis is located in Northern Asia excluding China, Europe, North America, and Southern Asia. Mustela nivalis can survive in a wide variety of habitats, including open forests, farmlands, meadows, prairies, steppe, and semi-deserts. Mustela Nivalis avoid deep forests, sandy deserts, and open spaces. They are well adapted for the tundra also. The body of least weasels is long and slim with a long neck ,a flat, narrow head, and short limbs. This animal has large black eyes and large, round ears. The feet have five fingers with sharp claws. Fur color is brown on the back and white with brown spots on the belly and lower body. The summer coat is about 1 cm in length. The winter coat, which is about 1.5 cm in length, turns to all white in northern populations and remains brown in the southern populations. Least weasels only live for several years after reaching adulthood and most die before reaching it. Males and females live apart from each other except during the breeding season. Because the range of a female is smaller than a male's, one or more female may live within one male's range.Least weasels are very active, both day and night. The young spend their time play fighting and play mating. The diet of least weasels is composed of small mammals, mainly rodents. When rodents are scarce, weasels will eat birds' eggs and nestlings. Their diet also ranges from insects to lizards. In the northern populations they will eat the carcasses of brown lemmings. Males are better hunters and are more likely to hunt larger prey, while females will continue looking for small rodents. __**Cell Type**__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Eukaryote <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__**Reproduction**__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Sexual <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__**Habitat/Biome**__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Its habitat/biome is, the Northeast Asian deciduous forest, it is endangered. The least weasels are fleeing from their homes and drowning in oceans trying to get away from the loggers. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">__**Interesting Facts**__
 * 1) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">The mustela nivalis is an endangered species.
 * 2) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">They are also the smallest carnivores in the world.
 * 3) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000080; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Consumes roughly half of its body weight each day.

__**Citation**__ "Least Weasel - Mustela Nivalis." //Blue Planet Biomes//. Web. 08 June 2011. [].

Newell, Toni Lynn. "ADW: Mustela Nivalis: Information." //Animal Diversity Web//. Web. 08 June 2011. [].

 "North American Mammals: Mustela Nivalis." //Smithsonian Institution National Museum of Natural History NMNH//. Web. 08 June 2011. [].

Tikhonov, A., Cavallini, P., Maran, T., Kranz, A., Herrero, J., Giannatos, G., Stubbe, M., Conroy, J., Kryštufek, B., Abramov, A., Wozencraft, C., Reid, F. & McDonaldR. 2008. //Mustela nivalis//. In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.4. <[|www.iucnredlist.org]>.