HISTORY 



NORTH AMERICAN MUSTELIDil 



CHAPTER I. 

 The Family MUSTELID^. 



General considerations — Systematic position and relations of the Mustelidce — 

 Division into subfamilies — Schedule of the North American genera — Their 

 differential characters — Diagnoses of the North American subfamilies — 

 The anal glands of Mustelinw — The fossil North American species of 

 Mustelhuc — Derivation and signification of names applied to Mustelidce. 



THIS is a large, important, and well-defined family of Car- 

 nis^orous Mammals, embracing the Weasels and Martens, as 

 its typical representatives, the Skunks, Badgers, Otters, and a 

 few other less familiar animals. 



Eepresentatives of the family exist in most portions of the 

 globe, excepting the Australian region, home of the Marsupials 

 and Monotremes. The group reaches its highest developuient 

 in the Northern Hemisphere, or Arctogsea, where both the gen- 

 era and the species are most numerous and diversified. Some 

 twenty genera are recognized by modern authors; of these, 

 the genus Putorius, including the true Weasels, has the most 

 extensive geographical distribution in both hemispheres, and 

 contains by far the largest number of species. In one sense, it 

 is to be considered as the typical genus of the family. Many 

 of the other genera consist of but a single species, and some 

 of them are the sole representatives of the subfamilies to 

 which they respectively belong. 



The economic importance of the family may be estimated 

 from the very high commercial value which fashion has set 

 IM * 1 



