Mustela nigripes (Audubon and Bachman, 1851) . Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, 2:297.

TYPE LOCALITY: "lower waters of the Platte River", restricted by Hayden (1863: 138) to "Fort Laramie" [Wyoming, USA] .

DISTRIBUTION: Formerly, S Alberta and Saskatchewan (Canada) south to Arizona, Oklahoma, and NW Texas (USA). Viable populations now only in captivity.

STATUS: CITES - Appendix I; U.S. ESA and IUCN - Endangered.

COMMENTS: Reviewed by Hillman and Clark (1980, Mammalian Species, 126) and Anderson (1977). Youngman (1982) placed nigripes in the subgenus Putorius . Anderson (1977) and Kurtén and Anderson (1980) suggested that nigripes and eversmannii may be conspecific.