The European mink (Mustela lutreola) is currently considered the second most threatened mammal in Europe, with its main extinction risk being the American mink (Neovison vison). The invasive species is larger and less habitat-restricted than the native species and is an asymptomatic carrier of the Aleutian mink disease parvovirus (lethal to the European mink). Additionally, the American mink is an extremely competitive predator, which together with its larger size, allows it to overcome the native species in physical confrontations and even prey on it.
Conservation plans should focus on enhancing the survivability of the European mink and managing American mink populations. Feeding ecology provides a control checkpoint for both strategies. To date, it is unclear whether dietary overlap occurs between both mink species, although skull morphology would suggest that the American mink has access to a wider prey range. Knowledge of the biomechanics of feeding in both species is lacking.
MINKS investigates the biomechanics of feeding in minks to understand how morphological variation between European and American mink skulls influences the extent of dietary competition between both species.
To accomplish this, MINKS combines medical imaging and computer modelling techniques with methods for statistical shape analysis in 3D. Differences in skull shape between both mink species are first assessed, and then used to infer differences in the biomechanics of their feeding (that is, their function). This link between skull shape and its function allows the creation of theoretical dietary profiles, which simply put is all prey types that each species could eat based on biomechanical parameters of their feeding apparatus (how strong they bite, how wide their gape, etc.). When combined with studies on the diet of European and American minks in the wild, MINKS' findings will provide a deeper understanding of the success of the American mink over the native species. This new information can be used to enhance conservation strategies to ensure the survival of the European mink.
The results generated by MINKS depict a detailed scenario of dietary competition and niche segregation occurring between and within species. This theoretical scenario would have facilitated the prevalence of the invasive species over the native European mink, as male American mink are equipped to capture and process a larger range of prey and also come on top of aggressive inter- and intraspecific encounters. Conversely, the situation reverses for female European mink, which could mean that they are more frequently displaced from the food sources necessary to survive and rear their young. Thus, MINKS’ findings suggest that male American mink, due to their extremely wide dietary range and aggressive behavior towards other mink, particularly European mink females, should be the main target of any control strategies to reduce their numbers in the wild.
