Page "Black-footed ferret" Paragraph 3

Like its close cousin, the Asian steppe polecat ( with which it was once thought to be conspecific ), the black-footed ferret represents a more progressive form than the European polecat in the direction of carnivory.

The black-footed ferret's most likely ancestor was Mustela stromeri ( from which the European and steppe polecat are also derived ), which originated in Europe during the Middle Pleistocene.

Molecular evidence indicates that the steppe polecat and black-footed ferret diverged from Mustela stromeri sometime between 500, 000 and 2, 000, 000 years ago, perhaps in Beringia.

The species appeared