Sthenictis

Smaller than a Microraptor!

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Sthenictis Temporal range: Miocene
A cast of a Sthenictis sp. skeleton
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Family:	Mustelidae
Genus:	†Sthenictis Peterson, 1910
Referred species
†Sthenictis bellus (Matthew, 1932) †Sthenictis campestris (Gregory, 1942) †Sthenictis dolichops (Matthew, 1924) †Sthenictis junturensis (Shotwell & Russell, 1963) †Sthenictis lacota (Matthew & Gidley, 1904) †Sthenictis neimengguensis (Tseng et al. 2009) †Sthenictis robustus (Cope, 1890)
Synonyms
Brachygale (Peterson, 1910)

Sthenictis is an extinct genus of mammal in the family Mustelidae endemic to North America and Asia during the Miocene epoch living from ~13.5—9.2 Ma (AEO) existing for approximately 4.3 million years.

Taxonomy

Sthenictis was named by Peterson (1910). It was assigned to Mustelidae 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 lb)
• Specimen 2 weighed an estimated 5.98 kg (13 lb)

Fossil Distribution

The oldest specimen was uncovered at Black Butte, Malheur County, Oregon. Other locations are: Quatal Canyon, Ventura County, California, Kleinfelder Farm, Saskatchewan, Canada, Nebraska, Texas, Florida and in Inner Mongolia, in China.

In the Media

Buck the Sthenictis in Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

• In the 2009 film Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, a weasel named Buck (voiced by Simon Pegg) is presented as a Sthenictis.