Fossils, diet, and conservation of black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes)

A new middle Pleistocene record of Mustela nigripes is reported from Cathed ral Cave, White Pine County, Nevada. The specimen dates to 750,000-850,000 years ago and represents one of the oldest remains recovered of the black-f ooted ferret. Forty-two percent of fossil faunas known to contain M. nigrip es do not contain Cynomys, the common prey of black-footed ferrets in histo ric times. Consideration of dietary information and habitat requirements of ill. nigripes and its sister taxon, M. eversmanni (steppe ferret), reveals ancestral behavioral repertoires for ferrets. We suggest that the historic ally documented "obligate" predator-prey relationship between M. nigripes a nd Cynomys was a secondary effect of colonization by black-footed ferrets o f Cynomys-dominated habitats sometime in the past 800,000 years. A phylogen etic perspective on the behavior of ferrets combined with paleontological d ata indicates a broader range of possibilities for conservation of the blac k-footed ferret.