April 7, 2011

Least weasel discovered in Black Hills by DWU professor

MITCHELL – Dr. Tim Mullican, professor of biology at Dakota Wesleyan University, will soon have an article published in the June 2011 issue of the Prairie Naturalist, a publication of the Great Plains Natural History Society.

The article, “First Record of the Least Weasel in the Black Hills of South Dakota,” reports on two specimens of the least weasel captured by Dr. Mullican in Custer County.

The least weasel is the smallest of the three species of weasels found in South Dakota. All of the published references to the mammals of South Dakota currently show the least weasel as only present in the eastern three-quarters of the state. Mullican’s research documents the first record of the least weasel in the Black Hills, representing the western-most distributional record for the state.

Financial support for Dr. Mullican’s research was provided in part by federal and state funding through a South Dakota Wildlife Action Plan Grant. Matching funds for this grant were also provided by Dakota Wesleyan University.