Mustela sibirica Pallas, 1773

Jo, Yeong-Seok, Baccus, John T. & Koprowski, John L., 2018, Mammals of Korea: a review of their taxonomy, distribution and conservation status, Zootaxa 4522 (1), pp. 1-216 : 76-79

Mustela sibirica Pallas, 1773 —Siberian Weasel

Mustela sibirica Pallas, 1773 p.701 ; Type locality- Siberian mountains (west Altai); Won,1968 p.285; Corbet, 1978 p.170; Han, 1994 p.46; Won & Smith, 1999 p.19; Oh, 2004a p.172.

Lutreola quelpartis Thomas, 1908b p.53 ; Type locality- Jeju Island.

M. manchurica Brass, 1911 p.490 ; Type locality- Manchuria.

Kolonocus sibiricus coreanus Domaniewski, 1926 p.55 ; Type locality- Seoul, Korea .

K. sibiricus katsurai: Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.380 (northern Korea; Nomen nudum).

K. sibiricus peninsulae Kishida and Mori, 1931 p.380 (most of Korean peninsula; Nomen nudum).

K. sibiricus quelpartis: Kishida & Mori, 1931 p.380 (Jeju Island); Corbet, 1978 p.170.

M. sibirica manchurica: Kuroda, 1938 p.30 ; Won, 1958 p.439; Won, 1967 p.114; Won,1968 p.285; Corbet, 1978 p.170; Yoon, 1992 p.102.

M. sibirica coreana: Kuroda, 1938 p.30 ; Tate, 1947 p.149; Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.262; Won, 1958 p.439; Won, 1967 p.116; Won, 1968 p.289; Yoon, 1992 p.194.

M. sibirica quelpartis: Kuroda, 1938 p.31 ; Ellerman & Morrison-Scott, 1951 p.261; Won, 1958 p.439; Won, 1967 p.121; Won, 1968 p.290; Yoon, 1992 p.105; Jo et al., 2012 p.252.

Range: The distribution of Mustela sibirica covers the Korean Peninsula from urban areas of Seoul to high mountains, where it is common (3 rd National Nature-Environmental Survey 2006–2013 unpublished electronic data; Fig. 49 ).

Remarks: Won and Smith (1999) described three subspecies, a northern population, M. s. manchurica , a southern population, M. s. coreana , and an isolated population on Jeju Island, M. s. quelpartis for the Siberian weasel in Korea. Mustela s. coreana was later synonymized with M. s. manchurica ( Corbet 1978) , which included: a peninsula subspecies, M. s. manchurica Brass, 1911 ; the subspecies on Jeju Island, M. s. quelpartis Thomas, 1908 , Quelpart kolonok. Also, Abramov (2005) confirmed M. s. quelpartis as a valid subspecies by morphometric comparison with populations of the Korean Peninsula and M. itatsi in Japan. However, Koh et al. (2012c) found that the subspecies quelpartis was not genetically distinct from the subspecies of the Korean Peninsula; thus, they did not support the current classification based on pelage color variation.

Conservation status: Ulsan, Daejeon, and Gwangju Metropolitan governments designated M. sibirica as a Provincially Protected Species.

Figures

FIGURE 49. Range map of Mustela sibirica in Korea.