Mustelinae is a subfamily of family Mustelidae, including , , and .
It was formerly defined in a paraphyletic manner to also include , , and many other mustelids, to the exclusion of the (Lutrinae).
Extant species of Mustelinae
Subfamily Mustelinae
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Mountain weasel, Mustela altaica
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Stoat or ermine, Mustela erminea
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Steppe polecat, Mustela eversmannii
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Ferret, Mustela furo
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Haida ermine, Mustela haidarum
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Japanese weasel, Mustela itatsi
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Yellow-bellied weasel, Mustela kathiah
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European mink, Mustela lutreola
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Indonesian mountain weasel, Mustela lutreolina
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Black-footed ferret, Mustela nigripes
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Least weasel, Mustela nivalis
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Malayan weasel, Mustela nudipes
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European polecat, Mustela putorius
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American ermine, Mustela richardsonii
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Siberian weasel, Mustela sibirica
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Back-striped weasel, Mustela strigidorsa
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The
sea mink (
Neogale macrodon) is a recently
extinct species from the 19th century that was native to the
The Maritimes of
Canada and
New England in the
United States.
Importance for humans
Some of the fashion furs come from this subfamily: ermine, weasel, mink and polecat.
Ferret model of COVID-19
COVID-19 can infect both the
European mink (
Mustela lutreola) and the
American mink (
Neogale vison). Ferrets are used to study COVID-19.
Ferrets get some of the same symptoms as humans,
but they get less sick than farmed
mink.
Ferrets are a fairly uncommon animal to use as a model, but mice were not an easy model of COVID-19 because mice lack the ACE2 gene.
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