Sea Mink Mussel macrodon By: Ilunga Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Mustelidae Genus: Mustela Species: macrodon

Natural History

The sea mink is not very well known. Scientits have been looking for over thirty years but never found its real history. Scientists have been trying to study the sea mink's ecology.

One day a boy went looking for small mammals. It was around 1851. The boy found a very little cute animal looking at him, so he went and told the people about the animal. Scientists described it as a beaver, but it had something very different so the scientist started researching the sea minks.

People talked about it everywhere. Then the people saw that its fur was very soft and nice to touch. Then people started making clothes out of the sea mink's fur. The sea mink was known everywhere. Tourists came from all over the world looking for its fur. After years and years the sea mink was becoming a threatened species. The people started trying to help it but it was too hard. The state wanted no more mink shooting but people didn't do what the state said. Then the sea mink became an endangered species. Before long the sea mink became extinct.

Scientists put the sea mink's history in the mammal history to make it easier for people to learn more about the sea mink’s history. The mammal’s history is very long to follow so after all this research this is the easy way to follow the mammal history.

The mammal era began sixty-five millions years ago. The mammals had a very hard time with other animals. The bad dinosaurs ate the small mammals which this time in history is called the Cenozoic Era. Over millions of years mammals evolved to become the animals we see today like the dolphins, beaver, whales, and a lot more animals which are mammals.

Habitat

Sea minks usually lived on rivers. Some sea mink lived on the coast of Canada. The ones which were strong lived very different places like creeks, ponds, lakes and marshes. The sea mink lives next to the sea because it needs the food in the water. Sea minks love being with other animals.

Present Status

The sea mink is an extinct animal.

Physical Description

The sea mink had a sleek body. The color of the sea mink was chocolate brown. The sea mink had white spots on its chin and its throat. The sea mink weighed about 1.4 pounds and its height was about one foot four. Its tail was very bushy and very long. The sea mink had a very lovely shining body. As a vertebrate a sea mink had very strong bones which helped it move and run so fast.

The sea mink grows for about three years. The good mothers kept their babies alive. The sea mink mother gave birth to baby boys first. The sea mink is an omnivore it eats plant and meat. The sea mink is very careful with it predators. Now the sea mink is extinct. Sea minks are very good swimmers.They swam so fast that it could catch its prey very fast in the water. The sea mink was a very good specie.

Diet and Feeding Habits

The sea mink almost use to eat anything they could catch. They killed small fish, bird eggs, insects, crabs, clams, and other small mammals. Sea minks had different kind of diets. The big ones looked for breakfast for the small ones.  The sea mink use to hunt for its food while the other animals were sleeping They would take the prey after hunting and kill them. The sea mink was not a scavenger.

Causes of Endangerment

The sea mink became extinct because people use to kill them and make special clothes out of their fur. They had a company of killing them. Then people wanted some money they went and killed sea minks. Now people started killing the sea mink and eventually the sea mink became extinct.

Personal Essay

Think first if there was never animals, how would people survive in this world?  It would be very hard to survive in a world without other creatures. We would not have good nutrition in this world without food.  We would not be strong to do things like what we do these days. The most important thing is that the wilderness needs us just as we need it.

Poem

As the sea went up high
the sea minks walked across the sea
in a group.

The sea minks went behind trees as they looked for their prey
but they never knew how a predator could have come from nowhere and eat them .
They worked together to protect themselves.

As the sun rises up
the sea minks wake up
and check to make sure everyone is safe.

by Ilunga Mutombo

Bibliography

http://www.hart-bronze-sculpture.com/html/body_mseamink.html (March 5, 2003)

http://www.canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/species/mammals/mammalpages/Mus_mac.htm (March 9, 2003)

http://4d.sped.ukans.edu/indiantownship/vmuseum/Frdseamink.htm (March 14, 2003) natureserve.org

http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/heywood/geog358/extinctm/SeaMink.htm (March 17, 2003)

http://www.thewildones.org/Scientists/askMary.html#seamink (March 20, 2003)