Mustela altaica Pallas, 1811 . Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat., 1:98.

TYPE LOCALITY: "qui alpes altaicas adibunt" [Altai Mtns] .

DISTRIBUTION: E Kazakhstan, S and SE Siberia, Primorski Krai (Russia); Mongolia; Tibet, W and N China; Korea.

STATUS: CITES - Appendix III (India).

SYNONYMS: alpina Gebier, 1823; astutus Milne-Edwards, 1870; birulai Ognev, 1928; longstaffi Wroughton, 1911; raddei Ognev, 1928; sacana Thomas, 1914; temon Hodgson, 1857 .

COMMENTS: Youngman (1982) placed altaica in the subgenus Mustela; however, Ognev (1935) considered sibirica and altaica closely related.