>Mol Phylogenet Evol. 2009 Sep;52(3):632-42. Epub 2009 Jun 6.
>Mustela or Vison? Evidence for the taxonomic status of the American
>mink and a distinct biogeographic radiation of American weasels.
>Harding LE, Smith FA.
>Department of Biology MSC03 2020, 1 University of New Mexico,
>Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA.
>
>The American mink's relationship to the weasels in Mustela has been
>uncertain. Karyological, morphological, and phylogenetic comparisons
>to Eurasian Mustela support placing the mink outside the genus as
>Neovison vison. However, genetic comparisons that incorporate other
>endemic American Mustela suggest the interpretation of N. vison's
>position to Mustela has been handicapped by biased geographic
>sampling. Here, we analyzed mitochondrial cytochrome-b from all
>weasels endemic to the Americas, including two poorly known South
>American species (M. felipei, M. africana), weasels native to North
>America (M. vison, M. frenata, M. nigripes), Mustela migrant to North
>America (M. erminea, M. nivalis), palearctic Mustela, and other
>American members of Mustelidae. Bayesian and likelihood inference
>methods were used to construct a phylogeny of Mustela, and relaxed
>Bayesian phylogenetic techniques estimated ages of divergence within
>the genus using priors calibrated by fossil ages. Our analyses show
>that the American mink and the smaller Mustela endemic to the Americas
>represent a distinct phylogenetic heritage apart from their Eurasian
>cousins, and biogeographic barriers like the Bering and Panamanian
>land bridges have influenced the evolutionary history of Mustela in
>the Americas.
>
>PMID: 19501660

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