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Major characteristics of the Family Mustelidae

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Major characteristics of the Family Mustelidae

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Diurnal or nocturnal, long, narrow-bodied,quick and agile,move in a bounding, scampering fashion,Some species are adept climbers, while others are excellent swimmers. Many species spend a great deal of time on the ground, searching for food in crevices, burrows, or under cover. Many species shelter in burrows. some live together while others live by themselves.

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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:carnivora
Family:mustelidae
Genus:Lctonyx
Species:Ictonyx striatus

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Location found/habitat specific information
Striped polecats are found throughout the African continent. They are distributed in all habitats occurring between the Mauritanian coast and the coast of Sudan, and southward to the South African coast.Striped polecats inhabit a wide variety of habitats.
Physical characteristics
Striped polecats closely resemble the North American skunk.

These small carnivores have glossy, coarse black fur with distinctive white spots on the face. There is a spot on the forehead and one on each cheek, and the black ears have white tips. These animals are solitary in the wild. Male encounters are always aggressive.
Behavior
Although polecats are efficient swimmers and climbers, they prefer the terrestrial life. Males and females only tolerate one another only during the mating season. They are almost strictly nocturnal, but some have been seen foraging around dusk and dawn. They seem to lead fairly nomadic lives.

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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:carnivora
Family:mustelidae
Genus:Lyncodon
Species:Lyncodon patagonicus

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Location found/habitat specific information
There is not a lot known about the habitat of L. patagonicus. The little research there is on this species suggests that Patagonian weasels are found in Pampas habitats that have light-colored substrates excluding deserts.Lyncodon patagonicus has a distribution within the Neotropical region. Its range is from the southern and western parts of Argentina into Chile
Physical characteristics
The head and body length of Lyncodon patagonicus ranges from 300 to 350 mm, with the tail adding an additional 60 to 90 mm (Nowak, 1999).  They have very small ears that are covered by the surrounding fur. Generally, the the fur is whitish with some dark brown and black tones intermixed. From the top of the head to along its backside there is a distinguishable broad white or yellowish band of fur. Lyncodon patagonicus has short legs, a long body, and a short bushy tail.
Behavior
The mating system and behavior of Patagonian weasles remains unknown at this time. However, most mustelids associate only briefly during the mating season.Patagonian weasels have been noted to enter burrows of Cnomyste and Microcavia in pursuit of prey. A defensive behavior of this species is that when it is cornered, the neck pelage will be erected. It is reportedly active at dusk and at night.

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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Mammalia
Order:carnivora
Family:mustelidae
Genus:aonyx
Species:aonyx capenis

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Location found/habitat specific information
African clawless otters are primarily aquatic and reside near perennial and episodic springs or rivers. Marine populations do occur if a source of freshwater is nearby for drinking. These otters prefer shallow water with thick reed beds, which are home to several favorable prey such as crab and fish. On land, African clawless otters take shelter in underground burrows, under rocks, roots, or dense vegetation. Dens have been found from sea level to 1200 m in elevation. Dens are used for resting, playing, eating, defecating, and giving birth and are shared by multiple otters. African clawless otters have been known to dig burrows in the sand up to 3 m deep, with entrances to the den above and below the water surface.Their home range is limited to the African continent, stretching along the coast from South Africa to Ethiopia.
Physical characteristics
African clawless otters are the largest Old World otter species and 3rd largest species of otter overall. Their head and body length ranges from 762 mm to 880 mm. Their tail measures 465 mm to 515 mm long and is typically stout and tapered. They weigh between 10 and 22 kg. Males are slightly heavier and longer than females. Their thick shiny coats are colored dark brown except for distinctive white coloring on the upper lips, the sides of the face, neck, throat, belly, and lower ears. Otter pelage consists of two kinds of hair. The outer hairs, or guard hairs, measure up to 25 mm in length. The undercoat, or fur, is white to off-white and is made of short (10 mm), fine, wavy hair. African clawless otters have long white whiskers on their cheeks, chin, and brows, which are used to detect prey in murky waters. They are clawless except for small grooming claws on hind digits 2, 3, and 4. Although their hind feet are partially webbed, they have the least amount of webbing of all otter species. They have nimble forefeet with opposable thumbs. Rough skin lines their palms and fingers and helps to grip slippery prey. African clawless otters have large skulls, measuring 125 to 136 mm in length. Behavior
Little is known of the mating system of African clawless otters. Breeding occurs during the dry season, which varies depending on location, and parturition coincides with the beginning of the rainy season. Gestation lasts approximately 63 days. Litters range in size from 1 to 3 pups, but as many as 5 pups per litter have been reported for animals in captivity. African clawless otters are solitary and can be found in both freshwater and marine habitats. Groups composed of 4 to 6 individuals, with 2 to 3 adults and 2 to 3 young, are occasionally spotted and larger clans sometimes form to forage. These otters are most active during dawn and dusk . Daytime is spent sleeping in burrows or dens. Nearly half of all dens are formed by natural depressions or sheltering landscape with the other half of dens constructed by otters digging through soft substrates such as sand or mud. The floor of the den is often lined with vegetation. They spend a majority of their waking hours swimming, hunting, foraging, playing, and basking in the sun.African clawless otters do the majority of their hunting in water. Shallow water, approximately 1.5 m deep, is preferred for hunting. They begin hunting by submerging their heads underwater and scanning for prey while using their forefeet to feel under rocks.

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This first is of a Yunnan otter this is a ancient otter species it's skull is huge compared to the other otters this shows that over time the otter species didn't need to be as big as it was back when the Yunnan otter lived.

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This is another picture of a ancient otter species this picture can show you how much bigger there mouth are bigger because there must have been bigger prey for them to kill.This shows evolution because otters today have much smaller mouths for killing smaller prey.

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This is a fossil of a badger and a and an ancient badger species this picture shows evolutionary change because the ancient badger species has much bigger legs which allowed it to support it's bigger body and head.

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This is a picture of a ancient otter species jaw is very powerful and which were adapted for eating large shellfish and freshwater molluscs.
Otters today still have a very powerful jaw but they don't have to kill very big prey.

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This is a fossil of a Megalictis (great weasel) this picture shows that it had huge teeth for shredding prey. Most weasels have the same structure but on a smaller scale.

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This the skull of a Potamotherium ('river beast') which has been assigned both to the mustelids and to the pinnipeds. Pinnipeds evolved most likely into some kind of bear species. But the head closely Resembles over types of the Mustelidae family. This head shows that animals of our time are much smaller compare to it.

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This shows all the Mustelidae and there order.Also where they are located.

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The differences of the otter to the human are one the human has 22 pairs while the otter only has 18 there are also 6 categories while the otter only has 4. The similarity's are they both have 2 pairs of sex chromosomes.

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Comparative chromosome studies of the family Mustelidae

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Comparative chromosome studies of the family Mustelidae

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The family Mustelidae has shown to be a very interesting and favourable group to study from a chromosomal point of view. The lowest number of chromosome is 30 of the  American Mink and the highest is of the  Striped Skunk with 50. Most of them range around 38-40. Them having very similar chromosomal numbers indicate them being closely related.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1601-5223.1967.tb02109.x/pdf

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The mitochondrial DNA sequence of the Eurasian otter is 16,505 bp in length and consists of 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, 2 rRNAs, and a control region. This allows biologists to see if this otter compares to others and allows them to figure out if a otter has a genetic issue. This also allows them to see if they find a new species to compare it to others.

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Mustelidae anatomy are very similar. There skulls are large slender canines,well developed carnasils, short rounded mandibles, well developed sagittal crest, long brain cases, short mandibles, and no post orbital bar. They also are small and have longer body for easier movement.They also have claws for climbing and for grabbing food or prey.

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The type of speciation of the mustelidae family is gradual.This means that they diverge slowly over time in small steps.They evolved over time from another organism such as the Yunnan otter which is a ancient otter species.

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The type of Evolution of the mustelidae family is divergent.Divergent evolution is the process by which a species evolves into two or more descendant or different forms. This is the case in the mustelidae family because most of today's come from a greater

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Most mustelids breed seasonally, but the length of the reproductive period varies among species. Day length often dictates the onset of the breeding season, which usually lasts 3 to 4 months. This is a form of random mating.

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The type of Isolation that mustelids experience is reproductive.This is where different species may live in the same area, but properties of individuals prevent them from interbreeding. This occurs in the mustelidae family because most of them live in Eurasia but to not interbreed.

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Darwin's Theory of Evolution is the widely held notion that all life is related and has descended from a common ancestor: the birds and the bananas, the fishes and the flowers all related.The other theory is Natural Selection which is the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. This first theory relates to my family because this indicates that they came form something else such as there ancestor the Yunnan otter.Natural Selection is present in the species of clawless otter's because claws are not needed in there environment.The type of Natural selection is stabilizing which is where a average phenotype is favored.Descent with modification is simply passing traits from parent to offspring one example is needing claws or not needing claws.

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http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Mustelidae/

http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Aonyx_capensis/

http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lyncodon_patagonicus/

http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Ictonyx_striatus/

http://www.crystalinks.com/fossilbadger.html

http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/01/23/511251648/scientists-discover-prehistoric-giant-otter-species-in-china

https://phys.org/news/2017-01-ancient-otter-species-largest.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4141208/Fossil-ancient-giant-otter-discovered-China.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megalictis

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potamotherium

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1601-5223.1967.tb02109.x/pdf

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19757186

http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-47572007000600011\

http://www.urology-textbook.com/karyotyping.html
https://www.boundless.com/biology/textbooks/boundless-biology-textbook/the-evolution-of-populations-19/adaptive-evolution-132/stabilizing-directional-and-diversifying-selection-535-11742/
http://study.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-descent-with-modification.html