American Mink

Mustela vison Schreber 1777

Phil Myers, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor cc-by-nc-sa-3.0

Mustela vison (American Mink) is a species of mammals in the family Mustelidae. They are associated with freshwater habitat. They are native to The Nearctic, United States, and North America. They are solitary, nocturnal carnivores. They have parental care (female provides care). They rely on running, swimming, and drag powered swimming to move around.

URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/ENVO_00000873
Definition: A biome that applies to the freshwater realm.

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URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q737742
Definition: one of the eight terrestrial ecozones constituting the Earth's land surface
Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecozone_Nearctic.svg

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URI: http://www.geonames.org/6252001

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URI: http://www.geonames.org/6255149

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URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q81875
Definition: organism that eats mostly or exclusively animal tissue
Attribution: Crustacean body sizes

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URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/solitary
Definition: Solitary animals are those that spend a majority of their lives without others of their species, with possible exceptions for mating and raising their young. Antonyms for a solitary animal include a social animal or a colonial animal.
Attribution: https://www.definitions.net/definition/solitary+animal

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URI: http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q309179
Definition: animal behavior characterized by activity during the night and sleeping during the day

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URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/parentalCareFemale
Definition: the female feeds and nurtures offspring
Attribution: Richard M. Sibly, Christopher C. Witt, Natalie A. Wright, Chris Venditti, Walter Jetz, and James H. Brown. 2012. Energetics, lifestyle, and reproduction in birds. PNAS 109(27):10937-10941, doi:10.1073/pnas.1206512109

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URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/NBO_0000055
Definition: The act of locomoting on limbs with body off the ground such that periodically none of the limbs are touching the ground.

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URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/GO_0036268
Definition: Self-propelled movement of an organism from one location to another through water, often by means of active fin movement.

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URI: https://eol.org/schema/terms/drag_based_swimming
Definition: Drag swimmers use a cyclic motion where they push water back in a power stroke, and return their limb forward in the return or recovery stroke. When they push water directly backwards, this moves their body forward, but as they return their limbs to the starting position, they push water forward, which will thus pull them back to some degree, and so opposes the direction that the body is heading. This opposing force is called drag. The return-stroke drag causes drag swimmers to employ different strategies than lift swimmers. Reducing drag on the return stroke is essential for optimizing efficiency.

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EOL has data for 67 attributes, including:

body shape
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/BodyShape
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bilaterally symmetric
- URI: http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/PATO_0001324
- Definition: being symmetric about a plane running from frontal end to caudal end (head to tail), and having nearly identical right and left halves
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diet includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/Diet
- Definition: Information about the items eaten by this organism.
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mammals
- URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q7377
- Definition: class of tetrapods
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geographic distribution includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/Present
- Definition: This organism is known to be present in this location or region. Not exclusive; other regions may also be reported.
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North America
- URI: http://www.geonames.org/6255149
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geographic range (size of area)
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/GeographicRangeArea
- Definition: The total extent of the geographic range of an organism.
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13218592.49 km^2
inter-birth interval
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/InterBirthInterval
- Definition: The length of time between successive births of a female.
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365 days
litters per year
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/LittersPerYear
- Definition: Number of litters per female per year
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1
mating system
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/MatingSystem
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not monogamous
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/notMonogamous
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native range includes
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/NativeRange
- Definition: Lists jurisdictions in which a given organism is a member of the undisturbed fauna or flora.
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The Nearctic
- URI: https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q737742
- Definition: one of the eight terrestrial ecozones constituting the Earth's land surface
- Attribution: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ecozone_Nearctic.svg
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prenatal development duration
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/PrenatalDevelopmentDuration
- Definition: The duration of the development from fertilized, deposited or implanted egg to hatching/birth. Corresponds to egg incubation duration in oviparous animals and to gestation period duration in viviparous animals.
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42 days
social system
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/SocialSystem
- Definition: Description of the relationships among individuals within a population of organisms, including reproductive relationships (mating system), relationships within each sex, adult – young interactions, helpers and cooperation (group living).
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solitary
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/solitary
- Definition: Solitary animals are those that spend a majority of their lives without others of their species, with possible exceptions for mating and raising their young. Antonyms for a solitary animal include a social animal or a colonial animal.
- Attribution: https://www.definitions.net/definition/solitary+animal
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temperature in geographic range
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1.491 0.1°c
testis location
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/TestisLocation
- Definition: Anatomical location of testis; eg: internal, descended, scrotal, inguinal.
- Attribution: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jeb.12373/full
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scrotal
- URI: http://eol.org/schema/terms/scrotal
- Definition: Testes are located outside of the body, suspended by the spermatic cord within the scrotum.
- Attribution: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testicle#External_testes
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Known occurrences, collected specimens and observations of American Mink. View this species on GBIF

Phil Myers, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor cc-by-nc-sa-3.0

American Mink includes 16 children: