Chart of European Mustelids: Size and Colour

I made this chart for my blog post about pet weasels in antiquity. The only other illustration of this (that didn't give weasels too much weird doggish anatomy) I could find was only in black and white, so I decided to draw up my own picture of the weasel family to compare their sizes. I hope this will be a good reference for anyone who wants to draw several different mustelid species in proportion with each other.

This was the data I used for their lengths:

Least Weasel: 11-26 cm
Stoat: 17-33 cm
Polecat: 29-46 cm
Beech Marten: 38-59cm
European Pine Marten: 40-60cm

As you can see, they all vary substantially in adult sizes. The smaller varieties of each species are usually found near the northern parts of their ranges, which breaks Bergmann's Rule.

The colours are not meant to be hue-perfect, but these markings are generally accurate. My only regret is that the Least Weasel will usually have white paws like the Stoat. Also, the throat patches of Pine and Beech Martens are quite variable in size and shape and you'll have to google them to see the full range of possible patterns. I've shown the martens' white throat patches at near the maximum size they can be.

This was mouse drawn, because my tablet broke and my scanner doesn't connect to the computer normally. I was reliving the bad old days of digital art before tablets, haha. But I'm pleasantly surprised at the result.