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South American weasels (subgenus Grammogale) are New World weasels endemic to South America. There are two extant species — the Amazon weasel (Neogale africana) and the Colombian weasel (Neogale felipei).

Taxonomy

The Amazon weasel was the first species of the two which was described, as it was described by Anselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1818. Spanish naturalist Ángel Cabrera described Grammogale in 1940 as a monotypic subgenus, though this would change in 1978 when the Colombian weasel was first described. Grammogale was originally one of five subgenera in the genus Mustela (the other four Lutreola, Mustela, Putorius, and Vison). South American weasels were reclassified into the genus Neogale with their closest relatives (the American mink, the long-tailed weasel and the sea mink) in 2021.

Description

As with most New World weasels, South American weasels have a elongated, slender, body shape with small ears and legs. Most South American weasels have a dark brown fur colour, though some Amazon weasels may have a reddish brown colour.

References

1. Cabrera, Ángel; Yepes, José (1940). Mamíferos sud-americanos [South American mammals] (in Spanish). Compañía argentina de editores.
2. Izor, Robert J.; de la Torre, Luis (1978). "A new species of weasel (Mustela) from the highlands of Colombia, with comments on the evolution and distribution of South American weasels". Journal of Mammalogy. 59 (1): 92–102.
3. Seal, Ulysses S. (1989-01-01). Conservation Biology and the Black-footed Ferret. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-04123-1.
4. Patterson, Bruce D.; Ramírez-Chaves, Héctor E.; Vilela, Júlio F.; Soares, André E. R.; Grewe, Felix (2021). "On the nomenclature of the American clade of weasels (Carnivora: Mustelidae)". Journal of Animal Diversity. 3 (2): 1–8. doi:10.52547/JAD.2021.3.2.1. ISSN 2676-685X. S2CID 236299740.
5. Hunter, Luke (2020-03-06). Field Guide to Carnivores of the World, 2nd edition. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4729-8267-4.

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