Sorry, I've been out of town for a few days, and have been working on a
paper for the Journal of Archaeological Science, so haven't been reading
the FML.  Not that it mattered much; I have 11 messages asking numerous
questions regarding the ferret's position within the Mustelidae.
 
1. There are currently NO subspecies recognized for the European
polecat, Mustela putorius (Birks 1999 the Atlas of European Mammals,
p. 336).  Older terms, such as Mustela putorius putorius or Mustela
putorius berberi are archaic and no longer accepted.  On the other
hand, six subspecies of the steppe polecat are recognized; seven if the
black-footed ferret is made a subspecies of the steppe polecat as it
deserves.
 
2. The genetics of the two Eurasian polecats (European and steppe) are
so close that many scientists consider them a single species, although at
this time they are recognized as two.  This close relationship confuses
the issue of ferret domestication, and the progenitor of the ferret is
unproved.  Because of this, the ferret should be considered "Mustela
furo."
 
3. Polecats are same-sex territorial exclusionists, meaning they exclude
all members of their sex from what they consider their territory.  They
are generally very accepting of members of the opposite sex, even when
out of season.  Feral ferrets in New Zealand follow an identical pattern.
Because of behavioral neotony, ferrets retain some amount of same sex
acceptance, considering cage mates as part of their litter.  However,
they must be conditioned to do so as part of their early experience.
Even so, the introduction of a new ferret typically results in some
degree of fighting, as the "litter" attempt to exclude the interloper.
Neutering, more than behavioral neotony or conditioning, drives
acceptance of other same-sex individuals.  The degree of same-sex
acceptance seen in ferrets is due to a combination of lack of sex
hormones due to neutering, human conditioning, and behavioral neotony.
 
4. Currently, the classification of ferrets is considered to be:
SPECIES: Mustela furo.
SUBGENUS: Putorius (putorius, eversmannii, nigripes, furo).
GENUS: Mustela (furo, africana, altaica, erminea, eversmannii, felipei,
       frenata, kathiah, lutreola, lutreolina, nigripes, nivalis,
       nudipes, putorius, siberica, strigidorsa, vison).
SUBFAMILY: Mustelinae (Mustela, Galictis, Gulo, Ictonyx, Lyncodon,
           Martes, Poecilogale, Vormela),
FAMILY: Mustelidae (Mustelinae, Lutrinae, Melinae, Mellivorinae,
        Mephitinae, Taxidiinae).
SUBORDER: Caniformia (Mustelidae, Canidae, Odobenidae, Otariidae,
          Phocidae, Procyonidae, Ursidae).
ORDER: Carnivora (Mustelidae, Canidae, Felidae, Herpestidae, Hyaenidae,
       Odobenidae, Otariidae, Phocidae, Procyonidae, Ursidae, Viverridae).
CLASS Mammalia (Carnivora, Monotremata, Didelphimorphia,
      Paucituberculata, Microbiotheria, Dasyuromorphia, Peremelemorphia,
      Notoryctemorphia, Diprotodontia, Xenarthra, Insectivora,
      Scandentia, Dermoptera, Chiroptera, Primates, Cetacea, Sirenia,
      Proboscidea, Perissodactlya, Hyracoidea, Tubulidentata,
      Artiodactyla, Pholidota, Rodenia, Hystricognathi, Lagomorpha,
      Macroscelidae).
 
You can see that as a member ot the Caniformia, ferrets are more closely
related to the dog group, while herpestids and viverrids are more closely
related to the cat group, the Feliformia.  Similarities are due
convergence--the phenonmenon where animals that do the same jobs tend to
look similar.  Ferrets (polecats), mongeese, and meerkats look similar
because they are adapted to a similar lifeway.
 
5. I think Lode is wrong when he suggests ferrets were domesticated from
the so-called "Berber polecat."  First, if true, genetics would reflect
it, but it doesn't.  Second, domestication changes the shape of skull
bones, and Lode is comparing domesticated ferret skulls from caged
animals eating a human supplied diet to wild polecat skulls eating a
wild diet; not wise.  Third, the ferret is probably a hybrid between the
steppe and European polecat, reflecting a domestication history across
Europe, rather than in a specific locale.  As a hybrid, the ferret could
have the skull morphology of one species (modified by domestication and
environment), but the coat color of the other species (diluted by
domestication).  Finally, Lode is a zoologist interested in ecological
issues, not a zooarchaeologist interested in domestication issues.  No
leading domestication zooarchaeologist currently accepts the "Berber
Polecat" origin for ferrets, but rather leans towards the trans-European
polecat hybrid hypothesis.  I am sure Lode is convinced he is correct,
but he offers no new evidence to support his hypothesis.  The findings by
Davison and Birk suggest the genetic relationships between the steppe and
European polecat are so close that no progenitor can be discerned.  If
you can't figure out which polecat was the progenitor, how can you say
ferrets were domesticated by a "subspecies" of European polecat that
isn't even recognized by European mammalogists?  There are NO accepted
subspecies for the European polecat!
 
Bob C
[Posted in FML issue 4084]