MCZ Mammalogy 51077

Mustela macrodon Prentiss, 1903 ?

Date Collected:

1958-06-21/1958-09-20

North America: United States: Massachusetts: Plymouth | Lakeville, near north shore of Assawompsett Lake, Wapanucket #6 site

occurrenceID: https://mczbase.mcz.harvard.edu/guid/MCZ:Mamm:51077 JSON-LD

Media type: image; Mammalogy 51077 Description: Anterior view of R femur;

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:51077 Mustela macrodon ? Voucher Description:...

Media type: image; Mammalogy 51077 Description: Posterior view of R femur (focus on distal end);

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:51077 Mustela macrodon ? Voucher Description:...

Media type: image; Mammalogy 51077 Description: Posterior view of R femur (focus on proximal end);

(Media Record) (Related) (Full)

Shows Cataloged Item: MCZ:Mamm:51077 Mustela macrodon ? Voucher Description:...

Current Identification
Mustela macrodon Prentiss, 1903 ?
Animalia Chordata Vertebrata Tetrapoda Mammalia Carnivora Mustelidae
Common Name(s): Sea Mink
Determiner: Madeleine MullonORCID iD icon on 2025-05-06
Nature of ID: curatorial ID
Remarks: identification as N. macrodon called into question by Work et al. 2025 (see specimen remarks)
Previous Identifications
Neogale Gray, 1865 linked data icon
Animalia Chordata Mammalia Carnivora Mustelidae
Determiner: Paula WorkORCID iD icon; Robert Lewis; Beverly Johnson; Bruce Bourque on 2025-04-24
Nature of ID: expert ID
Remarks: identification as N. macrodon called into question by Work et al. 2025 (see specimen remarks)
Mustela macrodon Prentiss, 1903
Animalia Chordata Vertebrata Tetrapoda Mammalia Carnivora Mustelidae
Common Name(s): Sea Mink
Determiner: [no agent data]
Nature of ID: migration
Remarks: MCZ ledger

Work et al. 2025, page 4, Voucher of Neogale Gray, 1865 doi: 10.1017/qua.2025.2 linked data icon
discusses dubious locality/origin and dubious identification of specimen

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Part Condition Disposition Count
skeleton (subfossil) R femur in collection 1 History
Remarks: Right femur.

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  • Locality dubious. Note with specimens: "These two bones [MCZ 51076 and 51077] may have been planted at this site, ie did not really occur there (possibly planted by Maurice Robbins of Mass. Arch. Society)" --Bruce Bourque, Maine State Museum, 3/25/2009. Work et al. 2025, p. 4, notes on specimen origin: "We have examined these bones from the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ:Mamm:51076–51077) and question both their identification and their origin at this archaeological site. First, the left radius (MCZ:Mamm:51076) is not that of a mink but one of a much larger carnivore, a river otter (Lontra canadensis; Fig. 2). Second, because Manville’s (1966) publication was the first to identify mink using postcranial bones, we question the absence of metric data upon which that judgment was based. Third, our archaeological experience in New England indicates these bones were not burned but rather stained by soil humates. Carbonized bone can be durable in sandy acid soils such as those of the Assawompset Pond area [Middleboro, MA], but unburned bones would have dissolved quickly. We therefore consider these bones to be among many objects putatively recovered from the site that other evidence suggests were not."

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  • Continent:
  • North America
  • Country:
  • United States
  • State/Province:
  • Massachusetts
  • County:
  • Plymouth
  • dwc:highergeographyID:
  • http://vocab.getty.edu/tgn/7014423 linked data icon
Specimens with same Higher Geography
Specimens from the same Locality
Specimens from the same Collecting Event
  • Specific Locality:
  • Lakeville, near north shore of Assawompsett Lake, Wapanucket #6 site
  • Verbatim Locality:
  • Mass., Plymouth Co., Lakeville, nr. N. shore of Assawompsett Lake
  • Georeference:
  • 41.8525670°, -70.908163° (Error radius: 465m) By: Madeleine Mullon on 2022-06-02 (Source: GEOLocate)
  • Datum:
  • WGS84
  • Coordinates Entered As:
  • decimal degrees
  • Collecting Source:
  • wild caught
  • Began Date / Ended Date:
  • 1958-06-21 / 1958-09-20
  • Verbatim Date:
  • summer 1958
  • Collecting Event Remarks:
  • "These two bones [MCZ 51076 and 51077] may have been planted at this site, ie did not really occur there (possibly planted by Maurice Robbins of Mass. Arch. Society)." - Bruce Bourque, Maine State Museum, 3/25/2009
  • Collector:
  • Massachusetts Archaeological Society

  • None

Media type: text; Mammalogy 51056; 51057; 51058; 51059; 51061; 51063; 51064; 51065; 51066; 51067; 51068; 51069; 51070; 51071; 51072; 51073; 51074; 51075; 51076; 51077; 51078; 51079; 51080; 51060; 51062 Description: MCZ Mammalogy Mammals 045831-052330, pg.210;

(Media Record) (Related) (File)

Ledger Entry for: 25 cataloged items from MCZ:Mamm:51056 Elephantulus rufescens rufescens...

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