📸 PhotoPhoto: Keven Law · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Least Weasel
Mustela nivalis (Least Weasel · イイズナ)
🇰🇷 Class I endangered wildlife (Korea)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 A maximum weight of 100 g is about the weight of two chicken eggs (Comparison).
- 💡 A maximum body length of 21.7 cm is similar to the short side of an A4 sheet of paper (21 cm) (Comparison).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Least Weasel is a very small member of the weasel family that lives across grasslands, forests, and tundra in the Northern Hemisphere.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
It is small, measuring 16.5–21.7 cm in body length and 30–100 g in weight, and its tail is less than one-quarter of its head-body length.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It specializes in hunting rodents such as mice, and also eats bird eggs, lizards, frogs, and small fish when prey is scarce. Gestation lasts 34–37 days, and females give birth to an average of about 5 young per litter.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
It is designated as Class I endangered wildlife (Korea) in the National List of Species of Korea.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2019) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/70207409/147993366
- • 멸종위기 야생생물 Ⅰ급 — 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000053337 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000053337
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • Korean protection status: Class I endangered wildlife (Korea)
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1005874
- • iucnredlist.org — 147993366
- • 국가생물종목록(국립생물자원관) ktsn 120000053337 — https://species.nibr.go.kr/home/mainHome.do?cont_link=009&subMenu=009002&contCd=009002&ktsn=120000053337
- • wikidata.org — Q25311
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Mustela nivalis -British Wildlife Centre-4.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Mustela nivalis
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Ferran Sayol · CC0 1.0
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.