What is the maximal age a American mink reaches?
An adult American mink (Mustela vison) usually gets as old as 10 years.
American minks are around 51 days in the womb of their mother. When born, they weight 8 grams (0.02 lbs) and measure 5 cm (0′ 2″). As a member of the Mustelidae family (genus: Mustela), their offspring is 4 babies per pregnancy. Fully grown, they reach a bodylength of 36.6 cm (1′ 3″).
As a reference: Usually, humans get as old as 100 years, with the average being around 75 years. After being carried in the belly of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks), they grow to an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) and weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual.
The American mink (Neovison vison) is a semiaquatic species of mustelid native to North America, though human intervention has expanded its range to many parts of Europe and South America. Because of range expansion, the American mink is classed as a least-concern species by the IUCN. Since the extinction of the sea mink, the American mink is the only extant member of the genus Neovison. The American mink is a carnivore that feeds on rodents, fish, crustaceans, frogs, and birds. In its introduced range in Europe it has been classified as an invasive species linked to declines in European mink, Pyrenean desman, and water vole populations. It is the animal most frequently farmed for its fur, exceeding the silver fox, sable, marten, and skunk in economic importance.
Animals of the same family as a American mink
Not really brothers and sisters, but from the same biological family (Mustelidae):
- American hog-nosed skunk with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Sea otter becoming 30 years old
- Marine otter with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Striped polecat becoming 13.33 years old
- American marten becoming 19 years old
- Steppe polecat with 7 babies per pregnancy
- Saharan striped polecat becoming 5 years old
- Sunda stink badger growing to a mass of 2.5 kgs (5.51 lbs)
- Siberian weasel becoming 8.83 years old
- Stoat becoming 7.08 years old
Animals that reach the same age as American mink
With an average age of 10 years, American mink are in good companionship of the following animals:
- Red acouchi usually reaching 10 years
- Mountain pygmy possum usually reaching 12 years
- Mountain nyala usually reaching 11 years
- Geoffroy’s tailless bat usually reaching 10 years
- Pygmy hog usually reaching 12 years
- Crowned lemur usually reaching 9.17 years
- Banded palm civet usually reaching 12 years
- Complex-toothed flying squirrel usually reaching 12 years
- Fischer’s pygmy fruit bat usually reaching 10 years
- Black dorcopsis usually reaching 8 years
Animals with the same number of babies American mink
The same number of babies at once (4) are born by:
- Kloss’s mole
- European water vole
- Beaded wood mouse
- Northern pika
- Turkestan rat
- Marsh rice rat
- Bush dog
- Indian hedgehog
- Sundevall’s jird
- Sody’s tree rat
Weighting as much as American mink
A fully grown American mink reaches around 904 grams (1.99 lbs). So do these animals:
- Stump-tailed porcupine with 832 grams
- Brown titi with 851 grams
- North African hedgehog with 931 grams
- Chinese ferret-badger with 939 grams
- Western white-eared giant rat with 932 grams
- Angolan slender mongoose with 750 grams
- Spix’s night monkey with 873 grams
- Indian giant squirrel weighting 1.06 kilos (2.34 lbs) on average
- Tailless tenrec with 894 grams
- Hispaniolan solenodon with 893 grams
Animals as big as a American mink
Those animals grow as big as a American mink:
- Cacomistle with 42.5 cm (1′ 5″)
- Ring-tailed vontsira with 35.2 cm (1′ 2″)
- Groundhog with 41.4 cm (1′ 5″)
- Greater bamboo lemur with 37 cm (1′ 3″)
- Dice’s cottontail with 37.4 cm (1′ 3″)
- Aye-aye with 40 cm (1′ 4″)
- Western quoll with 34.9 cm (1′ 2″)
- David’s echymipera with 37.6 cm (1′ 3″)
- Columbian ground squirrel with 29.6 cm (1′ 0″)
- Clara’s echymipera with 34.1 cm (1′ 2″)