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Neovison macrodon Prentiss, 1903:888 (887?)

Sea mink, Shell-heap mink

 

 

Taxonomy & Nomenclature

Synonym/s: Mustela macrodon Prentiss, 1903:888; Lutreola macrodon Prentiss, 1903:888; Putorius macrodon Prentiss, 1903:888; Mustela macrodon Prentiss, 1903:888; Mustela vison macrodon Prentiss, 1903: 888; Lutreola vison antiquus Loomis, 1911:228

 

Manville (1966) suggested the new combination Mustela vison macrodon. Treated as Mustela macrodon by (del Monte-Luna et al., 2023).

 

Conservation Status

Extinct

Last record: 1880 (Fisher & Blomberg, 2012); c.1890 (Goodwin & Goodwin, 1973); 1894 (Wilson & Reeder, 2005)

IUCN RedList status: Extinct

 

Distribution

Connecticut to New Brunswick, North America

 

Biology & Ecology

 

 

Hypodigm

All specimens are "sex unspecified":

MCZ 11378 to 11386

MCZ 19768 to 19771

MCZ 23827 to 23882

MCZ 35552

MCZ 36614

MCZ 36970 and 36971

MCZ 51076 and 51077

 

"Maxillae (11): MSM 29912, 29919, 29922, 29942, 299311, 299324, 299328, 299333, 299538, 299540, 299549. Mandibles (100): MSM 2991, 29916, 29921, 29923, 29924, 29928, 29931, 29942, 29944, 29947, 29948, 29952, 29953, 29955, 29970, 29971, 29974, 29975, 29979, 29982, 29983, 29985, 29986, 29993, 29994 (2 individuals), 29995, 29996, 299100, 299104, 299105, 299106, 299115, 299117, 299119, 299120, 299122, 299124, 299287, 299288 (2 individuals), 299290, 299291, 299294, 299295, 299297, 299298, 299300, 299310, 299314, 299315, 299319 (2 individuals), 299321, 299322, 299324, 299331 (3 individuals), 299334, 299337, 299339, 299344, 299346 (2 individuals), 299347, 299350, 299354 (3 individuals), 299361, 299362, 299369, 299374, 299377, 299379, 299380, 299381, 299482, 299488, 299490, 299492, 299505, 299508, 299517 (2 individuals), 299526, 299532, 299544, 299557, 299565, 299566, 299568, 299573, 299580, 299582, 299583, 299584 (2 individuals), 299587."

 

Quoted from: http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1644/06-MMM-A-227R1.1

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/sea-mink-american-mink-extinction-museum-smithsonian-clarence-clark-1.4927877

 

Media

 

 

References

Original scientific description:

Prentiss, Daniel Webster. (1903). Description of an extinct mink from the shell-heaps of the Maine coast. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 26: 887-888.

 

Other references:

Abramov, A. V. (2000). A taxonomic review of the genus Mustela (Mammalia, Carnivora). Zoosystematica Rossica 8: 357-364.

Allen GM (1942) Extinct and vanishing mammals of the Western Hemisphere with the marine species of all the oceans. American Committee for International Wild Life Protection, Special Publication 11, 1–620.

Bininda-Emonds, O.R.P., Cardillo, M., Jones, K.E., MacPhee, R.D.E., Beck, R.M.D., Grenyer, R., Price, S.A., Vos, R.A., Gittleman, J.L. & Purvis, A. 2007 The delayed rise of present-day mammals. Nature 446, 507-512.

Black, David W., Reading, Joanna E. and Savage, Howard G. (1998). Archaeological records of the extinct sea mink, Mustela macrodon (Carnivora: Mustelidae) from Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 112: 45-49.

Campbell, R. R. (1988). Status of the sea mink, Mustela macrodon, in Canada. Canadian Field-Naturalist 102: 304-306.

Day, David. (1981). The Doomsday Book of Animals: A Natural History of Vanished Species. New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press.

del Monte-Luna, P, Lluch-Belda, D, Serviere-Zaragoza, E, Carmona, R, Reyes-Bonilla, H, Aurioles-Gamboa, D, Castro-Aguirre, JL, del Próo SA, G, Trujillo-Millán, O and Brook, BW (2007) Marine extinctions revisited. Fish and Fisheries 8(2), 107–122.

del Monte-Luna, Pablo et al. (2023). A review of recent and future marine extinctions. Cambridge Prisms: Extinction 1: e13. https://doi.org/10.1017/ext.2023.11

Dulvy, Nicholas K., Pinnegar, John K. and Reynolds, John D. (2009). Holocene extinctions in the sea, pp. 129-150. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford, UK & New York, USA: Oxford University Press. xii + 352 pp.

Dulvy, NK, Sadovy, Y and Reynolds, JD (2003) Extinction vulnerability in marine populations. Fish and Fisheries 4(1), 25–64.

Fisher, Diana O. and Blomberg, Simon P. (2012). Inferring Extinction of Mammals from Sighting Records, Threats, and Biological Traits. Conservation Biology 26(1): 57-67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01797.x

Fisher, Diana O. and Humphreys, Aelys M. (2024). Evidence for modern extinction in plants and animals. Biological Conservation 298: 110772. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2024.110772

Goodwin, Harry A. and Goodwin, J. M. (1973). List of mammals which have become extinct or are possibly extinct since 1600. Int. Union Conserv. Nat. Occas. Pap. 8: 1-20.

Graham, R. W. (2001). Comment on “Skeleton of extinct North American sea mink (Mustela macrodon)” by Mead et al. Quaternary Research 56: 419-421.

Hardy, Manly. (1903). The extinct mink from the Maine shell heaps. Forest and Stream 61: 125.

Helgen, K. & Turvey, S.T. 2016. Neovison macrodon. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T40784A45204492. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T40784A45204492.en. Accessed on 02 July 2022.

Kurtén, B., and E. Anderson. 1980. Pleistocene mammals of North America. Columbia University Press New York. 442 pp.

Lee, T. E., Fisher, D. O., Blomberg, S. P. and Wintle, B. A. (2017). Extinct or still out there? Disentangling influences on extinction and rediscovery helps to clarify the fate of species on the edge. Global Change Biology 23(2): 621-634. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13421

Mansueti, Romeo. (1954). Mystery mink. Nature Mag. 47(4): 185-186.

Manville, R. H. (1966). The extinct sea mink, with taxonomic notes. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 122: 1-12.

Mead, J. I. and Spiess, A. E. (2001). Reply to Russell Graham about Mustela macrodon. Quaternary Research 56:422–423.

Mead, J. I., Spiess, A. E. and Sobolik, K. D. (2000). Skeleton of extinct North American sea mink (Mustela macrodon). Quaternary Research 53(2): 247-262. [Abstract]

Nowak, R.M. 2005. Walker’s Carnivores of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, USA and London, UK.

Nowak, R.M. (ed.) 1999. Walkers Mammals of the World. Sixth edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London.

Sealfon, Rebecca A. (2007). Dental divergence supports species status of the extinct Sea Mink (Carnivora: Mustelidae: Neovison macrodon). Journal of Mammalogy 88(2): 371-383.

Seton, Ernest Thompson. (1921). The Sea Mink, Mustela macrodon (Prentiss). Journ. Mamm. 2: 168.

Turvey, Samuel T. (2009). Holocene mammal extinctions, pp. 41-61. In: Turvey, Samuel T. (ed.). Holocene Extinctions. Oxford, UK & New York, USA: Oxford University Press. xii + 352 pp.

Turvey, Samuel T. and Fritz, Susanne A. (2011). The ghosts of mammals past: biological and geographical patterns of global mammalian extinction across the Holocene. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 366(1577): 2564-2576. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2011.0020 [Supplementary Information]

Turvey, S. and Helgen, K. (2008). Neovison macrodon. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.1. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 30 October 2011.

Vermeij, G. J. (1993). Biogeography of recently extinct marine species: Implications for conservation. Conservation Biology 7(2): 391-397.

Waters, J. H. and Mack, Charles W. (1962). Second find of sea mink in southeastern Massachusetts. Journal of Mammalogy 43: 429-430.

Waters, J. H. and Ray, Clayton E. (1961). Former range of the sea mink. Journal of Mammalogy 42(3): 380-383. [Abstract]

Wolff, WJ (2000) The south-eastern North Sea: Losses of vertebrate fauna during the past 2000 years. Biological Conservation 95, 209–217.

Wozencraft, W. C. (2005). Order Carnivora, pp. 532-628. In: Wilson, D. E. and Reeder, D. M. (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third Edition. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press.

Youngman, P. M. (1989). Letter to the editor: the status of the sea mink. Canadian Field-Naturalist 103: 299.

 

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