Morphometrics and prey selection among Irish Stoats

The Irish Stoat is the most poorly understood of Ireland’s mustelid carnivores. In an attempt to close some of the knowledge gaps, we bring together data on morphometrics, prey selection and ventral coat patterns of Irish Stoats, collected over a period of nine years. These are presented along with...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Irish naturalists' journal 2020-03, Vol.37 (1), p.18-25
Main Authors: Buckley, Kieran, Buckley, Grace Jamie, Lawton, Colin
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The Irish Stoat is the most poorly understood of Ireland’s mustelid carnivores. In an attempt to close some of the knowledge gaps, we bring together data on morphometrics, prey selection and ventral coat patterns of Irish Stoats, collected over a period of nine years. These are presented along with data on the habitats where the stoats occurred and the remains of the prey found in their digestive tracts. The size of stoats fits well into what is known as the north-south cline. Only 11 % of the stoats had a straight ventral coat pattern, the remainder were irregular. The Irish Stoat appears to be intermediate in form between the British stoat and the weasel and is an important example of character displacement in European mammals.
ISSN:0021-1311