Vol. 57, 2018 (update: 2018.03.15; 03.26) Cranial Variation in the Siberian Weasel Mustela sibirica (Carnivora, Mustelidae) and its Possible Taxonomic ImplicationsAlexei V. Abramov1,*, Andrey Yu. Puzachenko2, and Ryuichi Masuda3 doi:10.6620/ZS.2018.57-14
Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, 202, Taiwan (Received 23 August 2017; Accepted 5 March
2018; Communicated by Benny K.K. Chan) Alexei
V. Abramov, Andrey Yu. Puzachenko, and Ryuichi Masuda (2018)
Morphometric variation in 23 cranial characters of 555 Siberian weasels
(Mustela sibirica) was studied
across its whole distribution range.
Most of the distribution range in Siberia and China is occupied by
medium-sized weasels, whereas the eastern part of the species range -
including the Russian Far East, Korea and eastern China - is occupied
by the larger form. Specimens from the Pacific islands (Jeju and
Tsushima) were morphologically closely related to the western form of M. sibirica than to the neighboring
continental weasels. The western
form can be treated as nominotypical subspecies M. s. sibirica Pallas,
1773, whereas the eastern form can be treated as M. s. manchurica
Brass, 1911. Small-sized weasels from the eastern Himalayan area
(Myanmar and southwestern China) form a distinct group within M.
sibirica, and they were treated as a subspecies; M. s. moupinensis
(Milne-Edwards, 1874). Specimens from the western Himalayas (Kashmir,
Nepal and Sikkim) are morphologically distinct from all other
populations of Mustela sibirica and can be treated as a
separate
species Mustela subhemachalana
Hodgson, 1837. Key words: Skull variation, Mustela sibirica,
Subspecies, Taxonomy. *Correspondence: E-mail: alexei.abramov@zin.ru Supplementary Materials: Appendix 1 | Appendix 2 | Appendix 3 |