A geometric morphometric approach to distinguish ferret from polecat and its application to an archaeological specimen from Mechelen (Belgium)

Abstract

The inability to differentiate skeletal remains belonging to the ferret from those of its wild ancestor, the European polecat, presents a particular challenge for zooarchaeologists which currently hinders a better understanding of ferret domestication history. Using a geometric morphometric approach on the mandible, this study provides a new method to distinguish the two forms. Despite a small sample size and some overlap in the dataset, this method allowed the identification of a (post)medieval specimen from Mechelen (Belgium) as a wild polecat. Results demonstrate that ferrets can largely be distinguished from polecats based on mandibular morphology.