The American Mink, Mustela vison

Abstract

The American mink is not a laboratory animal, but it is of considerable economic importance; not, strictly, in a utilitarian sense, but rather on the level of production of luxuriant pelts. As such, the animal might have remained in a genetic backwater if not for the event of mutant colors, which were an almost instant success. The breeding of color-phase mink became a status symbol. Genetically, it meant that mutant genes were preserved and propagated in the form of distinctive varieties. They have been extensively studied from the viewpoints of their aesthetic and economic values as a source of pelts for the fur trade.