The Colombian weasel (''Neogale felipei''), also known as Don Felipe's weasel, is a very rare species of New World weasel only known with certainty from the departments of Huila and Cauca in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and nearby northern

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

(where it is only known from a single

specimen Specimen may refer to: Science and technology * Sample (material), a limited quantity of something which is intended to be similar to and represent a larger amount * Biological specimen or biospecimen, an organic specimen held by a biorepository f ...

). Both its

scientific Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

and alternative

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

honours the mammalogist Philip "Don Felipe" Hershkovitz. It appears to be largely restricted to

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

habitats at an altitude of . There is extensive

deforestation Deforestation or forest clearance is the removal and destruction of a forest or stand of trees from land that is then converted to non-forest use. Deforestation can involve conversion of forest land to farms, ranches, or urban use. Ab ...

within its limited distribution within the northern Andes of

and

, and with less than 10 known specimens, it is probably the rarest

carnivora Carnivora ( ) is an order of placental mammals specialized primarily in eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. The order Carnivora is the sixth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species. Carnivor ...

n in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

.Novak, R. M. 1999. ''Walker's Mammals of the World''. 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore. It is considered vulnerable by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. It is the second-smallest living

carnivoran Carnivora ( ) is an order of placental mammals specialized primarily in eating flesh, whose members are formally referred to as carnivorans. The order Carnivora is the sixth largest order of mammals, comprising at least 279 species. Carnivor ...

on average, being only slightly larger than the

least weasel The least weasel (''Mustela nivalis''), little weasel, common weasel, or simply weasel is the smallest member of the genus ''Mustela,'' Family (biology), family Mustelidae and Order (biology), order Carnivora. It is native to Eurasia, North Ame ...

(''Mustela nivalis'') and slightly smaller than the

stoat The stoat (''Mustela erminea''), also known as the Eurasian ermine or ermine, is a species of mustelid native to Eurasia and the northern regions of North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on th ...

or ermine (''M. erminea''). The upperparts and tail are blackish-brown, while the underparts are orange- buff. The species was formerly only known from specimens until the first photo of a living individual was taken in 2011 by an amateur naturalist who found one trapped in his parents' house; the weasel subsequently escaped to the outdoors. The image was uploaded to

iNaturalist iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its web ...

in 2018, where it gained widespread attention.

Taxonomy

Originally described in the genus ''

Mustela Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets, and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slender bo ...

'', a 2021 study reclassified into the genus ''

Neogale ''Neogale'' (colloquially referred to as the New World weasels) is a genus of Carnivora, carnivorous, highly active small Mammal, mammals belonging to the Mustelidae family (which also contains badgers, weasels, martens, otters, and wolverines, ...

'' along with two other former ''Mustela'' species, as well as the two species formerly classified in '' Neovison''.

Description

''N. felipei'' has an elongated body with an average length of , and a tail long. Weight ranges between . ''N. felipei'' has a dark dorsal color with no variation, ventrally the weasel has a light orange color with gradual fading of color up to the head. Hair color from the tail to the nose is uniform with no striping or spotting. ''N. felipei'' has an inflated

auditory bulla The tympanic part of the temporal bone is a curved plate of bone lying below the squamous part of the temporal bone, in front of the mastoid process, and surrounding the external part of the ear canal. It originates as a separate bone (tympanic b ...

located near the dorsal midline on the body, along with a wide mesopterygoid fossa. The soles of the feet lack any fur, and extensive webbing is located on the second, third, and fourth digits, suggesting a

semi-aquatic In biology, being semi-aquatic refers to various macroorganisms that live regularly in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. When referring to animals, the term describes those that actively spend part of their daily time in water (in ...

lifestyle.

Distribution and habitat

''N. felipei'' is one of the least studied carnivore species in the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

. Photos taken of a Colombian weasel by Juan de Roux are the first known photos of a living Colombian weasel. These tiny carnivores are thought to maintain a larger geographical range that currently known. Reports of sightings have placed ''N. felipei'' in the mountain ranges of western

to northern

. ''N. felipei'' was originally thought to be

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

to Colombia however recent specimens have been collected in Ecuador that have since proven this thought wrong. Distribution and habitat modeling surveys have been able to predict that ''N. felipei'' is distributed between 20 protected areas in Colombia, and 14 in Ecuador along with three previously known locations in both countries, the majority of these locations lie in protected areas of the forest. From geographic modeling, and collected specimens it has been concluded that ''Neogale felipei'' lives in largely riparian habitats, primarily staying close to

rivers A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of its course if it ru ...

streams A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long, large stream ...

, and along the shorelines of other natural water sources. Since this habitat lies in an elevation range of it is classified as being in a "

cloud forest A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, Montane forest, montane, Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist forest characteri ...

" consisting of 100% humidity adding to the riparian habitat.

Diet

''N. felipei'' is a

carnivorous A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant whose nutrition and energy requirements are met by consumption of animal tissues (mainly mu ...

mammal A mammal () is a vertebrate animal of the Class (biology), class Mammalia (). Mammals are characterised by the presence of milk-producing mammary glands for feeding their young, a broad neocortex region of the brain, fur or hair, and three ...

that preys primarily on

fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

, other small

aquatic animals An aquatic animal is any animal, whether vertebrate or invertebrate, that lives in a body of water for all or most of its lifetime. Aquatic animals generally conduct gas exchange in water by extracting dissolved oxygen via specialised respirato ...

, and small

terrestrial Terrestrial refers to things related to land or the planet Earth, as opposed to extraterrestrial. Terrestrial may also refer to: * Terrestrial animal, an animal that lives on land opposed to living in water, or sometimes an animal that lives on o ...

mammals. Hunting is aided by the use of

webbed feet The webbed foot is a specialized limb with interdigital membranes (webbings) that aids in aquatic locomotion, present in a variety of tetrapod vertebrates. This adaptation is primarily found in semiaquatic species, and has convergently evolved ...

and camouflaged

fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

Conservation status

''Neogale felipei'' has been recognized by the

as being vulnerable and having a decreasing population. However, due to rarity of sighting, and

of known habitat it remains unclear as to the true numbers of individuals that make up the population.

References

Bibliography

* Izor, R. J. and N. E. Peterson. 1985. Notes on South American weasels. ''Journal of Mammalogy'' 66: 788–790. * Burneo, S., José F. González-Maya, and D. Tirira
"Distribution and habitat modelling for Colombian Weasel ''Mustela felipei'' in the Northern Andes."
Small Carnivore Conservation 41 (2009): 41–45. * Martínez-Arias, Víctor M
"Has Colombian Weasel ''Mustela felipei'' been overlooked in collections?"
Héctor E. Ramírez-Chaves. Small Carnivore Conservation 47 (2012): 30–34. * Tirira, Diego G., and José F. González-Maya
"Current state of knowledge of the least-known carnivore in South America: Colombian Weasel ''Mustela felipei'' in Colombia and Ecuador."
Small Carnivore Conservation 41 (2009): 46–50. * Loyola, R. D., De Oliveira, G., Diniz-Filho, J. A. F. and Lewinsohn, T. M. (2008), "Conservation of Neotropical carnivores under different prioritization scenarios: mapping species traits to minimize conservation conflicts." Diversity and Distributions, 14: 949–960. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1508910 Weasels Carnivorans of South America Endemic fauna of Colombia Endemic fauna of Ecuador Mammals of the Andes Mammals of Colombia Mammals of Ecuador Vulnerable animals Vulnerable biota of South America Mammals described in 1978 Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN