Mustela putorius

The European polecat, also known as the western polecat, is a mustelid species occurring in Europe and the Rif mountains. 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.

Mustela putorius

Peter Trimming · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
European polecatPBDB
Sits inside
MustelaPBDB
Diet
carnivore, omnivorePBDB, for Mustelidae
Life habit
scansorialPBDB, for Mustelidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 762 thousand years on record.

The record covers at least 774 ka to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 5.333 Mya to 0 Mya.

Miocene — about 0 of 14 occurrencesPliocene — about 1 of 14 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 11 of 14 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 2 of 14 occurrences5.4–5.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.3–5.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences5.1–4.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.3–4.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences4.1–3.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences3.9–3.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences3.7–3.5 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.9–2.7 Mya — about 0.0 occurrences2.7–2.5 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences2.5–2.3 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.9–1.8 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.8–1.6 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences1.2–972 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences972 ka–778 ka Mya — about 0.3 occurrences778 ka–583 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences583 ka–389 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences389 ka–194 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences194 ka–0 Mya — about 5 occurrences774 ka – 11.7 ka5.8 Mya0 Mya

14 occurrences of Mustela putorius on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

14 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

1 formation

Cromer Forest Bed — 52.94°N, 1.25°E

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The named rock units Mustela putorius has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 13 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Mustela putorius and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Mustela putorius and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

287 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 14 sites for Mustela putorius, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

11 references

Each of the 14 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Mustela putorius

Credit
Peter Trimming
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

Laser scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Mustela putorius · NMV:Mammalogy:C22360

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itMustela through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. (Linnaeus 1758)