Mustela nigripes Audubon and Bachman 1851

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Carnivora, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 532-628 : 616

Mustela nigripes Audubon and Bachman 1851

Mustela nigripes Audubon and Bachman 1851 , Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, 2 (297).

Type Locality: "lower waters of the Platte River", restricted by Hayden (1863:138) to "Fort Laramie" [Wyoming, USA].

Vernacular Names: Black-footed Ferret.

Distribution: Formerly, Canada (S Alberta and Saskatchewan), USA (south to Arizona, Oklahoma, and NW Texas). Viable populations now only in captivity (see status).

Conservation: CITES – Appendix I; U.S. ESA – Endangered, except where listed as an Experimental Non Essential Population in portions of Arizona, Colorado, Montana, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming ( USA); IUCN – Extinct in the Wild.

Discussion: Reviewed by Hillman and Clark (1980) and Anderson (1977). Youngman (1982) and Abramov (1999) placed nigripes in the subgenus Putorius . Anderson (1977) and Kurtén and Anderson (1980) suggested that nigripes and eversmanii may be conspecific.