Mink fur is usually dark brown with white patches on the chin, chest, and throat areas. The fur is soft and thick, with oily guard hairs that waterproof the animal's coat (Chapman and Feldhamer 1982). The body is long and slender with short legs and a pointy, flat face. The toes are partially webbed, showing the mink's semi-aquatic nature. Body length is usually around 2 feet or 610 mm (Van Gelder 1982) with up to half of this length being the tail. Females, on average, are substantially smaller than males. Adult females weigh between 0.7 to 1.1 kg, while males range from 0.9 to 1.6 kilograms (Chapman and Feldhamer 1982). Body length varies as well, with males measuring from 580 to 700 mm and females from 460 to 575 mm (Chapman and Feldhamer 1982).
No narrative description available for this taxon yet.
⚠ sources differ — AnAge: 925 g · AmnioteDB: 900 g · EltonTraits: 1 150 g
Body mass (male)1 710 g
SVL43 cm
Life cycle & reproduction10
Age at maturity (male)371 days
Age at sexual maturity334 days
⚠ sources differ — AnAge: 334 days · AmnioteDB: 298 days
Gestation42 days
⚠ sources differ — AnAge: 42 days · AmnioteDB: 36.22 days
Growth rate0.027 /day
Litter size4.5
⚠ sources differ — AnAge: 4.5 · AmnioteDB: 4.76
Litters per year1 /year
Max. longevity137 months
Neonate mass8.5 g
Weaning age49 days
Weaning mass110 g
Diet & foraging4
Fish20 %
Invertebrate10 %
Vertebrate ectotherm20 %
Vertebrate endotherm50 %
Habitat & environment1
Terrestriality-999.00
Physiology & chemistry4
Body temperature312 K
Metabolic rate2.72 W
Precipitation mean55.37 mm
Temperature mean14.91 decidegC
Other traits3
Activity cycle-999.00
Foraging stratumG
Interbirth interval365 days
05DNA & barcoding25 eDNA hits
A DNA barcode is a short, standardised stretch of genes that works like a fingerprint — enough to tell one species from another. Below is the molecular trace Mustela vison has left across the world's sequence archives.
At a glance
eDNA detections25
Countries5
06Genome at a glanceTreeOfSex · NCBI
The complete instruction manualMustela vison carries — its genome. We read it from three angles — how big it is, how the DNA is packed into chromosomes, and how completely it has been sequenced — and explain how to read each value as you go.
Genome sizehow big the whole instruction manual is
Genome size≈2 697 130 894 bp assembly estimate
Measured in base pairs (bp) — the individual letters of DNA (human ≈ 3.2 Gb, a bacterium a few million). The chart places this genome on a logarithmic scale — each step to the right is ten times bigger — among reference organisms. Across species a bigger genome loosely tracks with larger cells, slower growth and lower-energy lifestyles (powered flight favours small genomes) — yet it does not imply more genes or a more advanced organism (the long-standing C-value paradox).
BACTERIUM Carsonella ruddii0.00016 Gb
FUNGUS0.04 Gb
INSECT0.25 Gb
THIS GENOME Mustela vison2.7 Gb
HUMAN3.2 Gb
WHEAT17 Gb
FERN Tmesipteris160.45 Gb
Chromosomes & ploidyhow the DNA is packaged
2n is the full chromosome count in a normal body cell; n is a gamete (egg or sperm), which carries half. Ploidy is how many complete chromosome sets each cell holds — 2× (diploid) is typical for animals, while higher levels (polyploidy) are common in plants. Click any value below to see the underlying records and sources.
Chromosomes2n = 30 n = 15
Chromosome-count records — grouped by value · 2n = full set, n = gamete · click a value for sources & references
2n 301×TreeOfSex · vert
TreeOfSex · vert — Pardo-Manuel de Villena F., Sapienza C. (2001) Female meiosis drives karyotype evolution in mammals. Genetics 159: 1179-1189. ↗
Sequencing statusassembly quality — how far to trust these numbers
Assembly level tells you how finished the sequence is — from fragmented contigs, through scaffolds, up to a full chromosome-level assembly. BUSCO % estimates completeness: the share of genes expected to be present that were actually found. These describe the data quality, not the organism.
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
Coordinate accuracy79% within 1 km
≤100 m 10 890≤1 km 3 457≤10 km 3 736>10 km 91
18 174 georeferenced · 436 without coordinates
Open the mapobservation + sensor18 610
Museum / Voucheredphysical evidence
Backed by a physical specimen — a herbarium sheet, sample or voucher held in a collection. “Vouchered” means supported by material evidence, not just an observation.
Coordinate accuracy15% within 1 km
≤100 m 23≤1 km 38≤10 km 196>10 km 143
400 georeferenced · 329 without coordinates
Open the institutions mapphysical evidence729
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
Coordinate accuracy
no georeferenced coordinates · 1 records without
Open the mapnot free-living1
Wildobservation + sensor
Human sightings and records, or camera-trap / sensor detections — someone (or a device) saw or captured the species in the wild.
10Collections & institutions
Holding institutions18 of 40 geolocated
Institutions and collections holding physical, vouchered specimens of this species — click a row to fly to it on the map.
Institution
Specimens
Louisiana State University, Museum of Zoologylocation not on record
174
Seattle, US
118
Washington State University, Charles R. Conner Museumlocation not on record
105
Albany, US
97
MRI-PASlocation not on record
41
Central Michigan University Museum of Cultural and Natural Historylocation not on record
21
Provo, US
19
Zacatecas, MX
13
Natural History Museum Rotterdamlocation not on record
11
CASlocation not on record
11
Ohio State University - Mammal Division, Columbus, OH (OSUM)location not on record
9
Cincinnati, US
9
South Kensington, GB
8
University of Victorialocation not on record
6
Kristiansand, NO
6
East Lansing, US
5
Emporia, US
5
Philip L. Wright Zoological Museumlocation not on record
4
RBINS-Scientific Heritagelocation not on record
4
NMUlocation not on record
4
Brussels, BE
4
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Pointlocation not on record
3
Provincia di Livornolocation not on record
3
Cambridge, US
3
Los Angeles, US
3
ASNHClocation not on record
2
Tall Timbers Research Stationlocation not on record
2
University of Nebraska State Museumlocation not on record
2
APN-ARlocation not on record
1
University of Connecticut Biodiversity Research Collectionslocation not on record
1
Edmonton, CA
1
Natural History Museum, Aarhus Denmarklocation not on record
1
Nagatoro-machi, Chichibu-gun, JP
1
Gothenburg, SE
1
Obihiro Centennial City Museumlocation not on record
1
Denver, US
1
University of Alberta Museumslocation not on record
1
Texas Cooperative Wildlife Collectionlocation not on record
1
1
San Diego, US
1
40 institutions · 704 of 729 vouchered records shown · 10 without an institution code
Cultivated / Captivenot free-living
A living individual in a botanical garden, zoo or nursery — cultivated or kept, not free-living.
09Environmental DNA25 detections
Where the DNA of Mustela vison was picked up in samples of water, soil or air — nobody saw the organism, only its DNA left behind. A trace is a clue that the species was near, not a confirmed sighting.
Signal
Detections DNA found25
Studies independent surveys1
Countries5
Signal confidence: weakweighed across independent studies, places & mapped detections
Where its DNA was found
0 of 25 detections have coordinates
Open the map5 countries0
How strong is each trace?
DNA read depthRead counts were not reported for this species — the map shows presence only, not how strong each trace was.
Modelled climatemodelled
−15°Ctemperature across detection sites+40°C
Temperature median8.70 °C -4.20–16.8
Seasonal swing summer↔winter26.7 °C
Max temp (day)12.3 °C -1.00–21.9
Min temp (night)3.60 °C -6.40–12.3
Precipitation56.8 mm/mo 22.9–91.4
Air humidity61.2 % 53.2–65.1
Moisture balance-26.0 mm/mo -71.7–34.6
Vapour deficit487 Pa 269–825
Wind speed4.20 m/s 2.60–5.70
Cloud cover45.6 % 36.0–54.9
CHELSA 1981–2010, ~9 km grid, at location & month of 15 detection points · median with p10–p90 · reflects where sampling happened, not only the true niche
How to read this: each dot is one detection of this species' DNA in an environmental sample. The confidence meter weighs how many independent studies and places back up the signal — one detection in one study is a hint; many across several studies is solid. Records dated before 2008 (when eDNA methods began) are treated as likely mislabeled and left off the map.
Animal Diversity WebUniv. of Michigan MZspecies account↗
BioWikiNetmultilingual Wikipediamultilingual↗
GBIFGlobal Biodiversity Information Facility19 345 records↗
ENAEuropean Nucleotide Archive · EMBL-EBI25 eDNA detections↗
NCBIUS National Library of Medicinegenome & karyotype↗
Tree of SexTree of Sex Consortiumgenome & karyotype↗
GLoBIGlobal Biotic Interactionsbiotic interactions↗