AnimalvsAnimal
Mustela nivalis  British Wildlife Centre 4🦡

Photo: Keven Law · CC BY-SA 2.0

SpeciesCarnivoraMustelidae
Carnivores

🦡Least weasel

Mustela nivalis Linnaeus, 1766

Das Mauswiesel (Mustela nivalis), auch Zwerg- oder Kleinwiesel oder volkstümlich Hermännchen genannt, ist eine Raubtierart aus der Familie der Marder (Mustelidae). Neben dem Hermelin ist es die zweite in Mitteleuropa heimische Art der Wiesel.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
24
Photos
3
Measurements
13
vs you
≈ 1/1,250th of your weight
Also called
Mustela nivalis, Weasel, weasel, least weasel
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2019.

Population trendStable
Key measurements
Body mass
0.05 kg
Body length
0.26 m
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
9.99 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Least weasel

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.05 kg
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 0.05 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Body length
0.26 m
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Brain mass
1.56 g
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
9.99 years
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 9.1 yearsAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Generation length
3.27 years
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Age at maturity
170 days
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Gestation
36 days
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 36 daysAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Litter size
about 5
COMBINE
Other figures ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 5AnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Trophic level
Carnivore
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Activity cycle
Nocturnal
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Home range
0.07 km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Population density
13 per km²
COMBINE
Details ↓

Source: COMBINE · v1 (Soria et al. 2021) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Least weasel yet: shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classMammalia
  4. ›orderCarnivora
  5. ›familyMustelidae
  6. ›genusMustela
  7. ›speciesMustela nivalis
Full lineage
  1. classMammals · Mammalia
  2. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  3. suborderCaniformia
  4. familyMustelidae
All 13 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. classMammals · Mammalia
  9. subclassTheria
  10. superorderLaurasiatheria
  11. orderCarnivorans · Carnivora
  12. suborderCaniformia
  13. familyMustelidae
More

More about the Least weasel

Closest relative on this site
🦡 European polecat — last shared an ancestor ≈ 3.3 million years ago.
What it eats
warm-blooded animals100%
In other languages
Mustela nivalis (fr), Mustela nivalis (es), wezel (nl), Hermännchen (de), lumikko (fi), snømus (nb) … and 27 more languages

Tiere vor der Kamera

Echtes Filmmaterial von den Tieren dieser Website – beim Jagen, beim Kämpfen und beim ganz normalen Alltag.

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