Sthenictis is an extinct genus in the weasel family (mustelids) endemic to North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

 during the Miocene

Miocene

The Miocene is a geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about . The Miocene was named by Sir Charles Lyell. Its name comes from the Greek words and and means "less recent" because it has 18% fewer modern sea invertebrates than the Pliocene. The Miocene follows the Oligocene...

 epoch living from ~13.5—9.2 Ma (AEO

Appearance Event Ordination

Appearance Event Ordination or AEO is a scientific method for biochronology through the ordering of the appearance of fossil mammal genera by multivariate analysis, using conjunctional and disconjunctional range distributions in large sets of data.-Process:AEO is based on faunal overlap and...

) existing for approximately .

Taxonomy

Sthenictis was named by Peterson (1910). It was assigned to Mustelidae

Mustelidae

Mustelidae , commonly referred to as the weasel family, are a family of carnivorous mammals. Mustelids are diverse and the largest family in the order Carnivora, at least partly because in the past it has been a catch-all category for many early or poorly differentiated taxa...

 by Peterson (1910) and Carroll (1988); and to Ischyrictini by Baskin (1998).

Morphology

Two specimens were examined for body mass by Legendre and Roth 1988:

• Specimen 1 weighed an estimated 13.7 kg (30.2 lb)
• Specimen 2 weighed an estimated 5.98 kg (13.2 lb)

Fossil distribution

The oldest specimen was uncovered at Black Butte, Malheur County, Oregon

Malheur County, Oregon

Malheur County is a county located in the southeast corner of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is included in the eight-county definition of Eastern Oregon. Most of the county observes the Mountain Time Zone, although the southern quarter of the county observes the Pacific Time Zone along with the...

. Other locations are: Quatal Canyon, Ventura County, California

Ventura County, California

Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...

, Kleinfelder Farm, Saskatchewan, Canada, Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, and Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

.

External links

• Sthenictis at the Fossil Wiki