Neogale

Neogale, colloquially called the New World weasels, is a genus of small, highly active carnivorous mammals in the family Mustelidae, comprising four living species, the Amazon weasel, Colombian weasel, long-tailed weasel, and American mink, plus one extinct species, the sea mink. These animals were reclassified into Neogale in 2021, having previously been grouped within the genera Mustela and Neovison, after molecular evidence showed they form a distinct evolutionary lineage that diverged from Mustela during the Late Miocene, roughly 11.8 to 13.4 million years ago. Neogale species range across the Americas from Alaska south to Argentina and Bolivia, occupying environments as varied as the boreal forests of Alaska and Canada, the arid deserts of the American southwest, the tropical Amazon basin, and the Andean foothills into northern Patagonia.