Editing Long-tailed weasel (section)

{{Short description|Species of weasel native to the Americas}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Long-tailed weasel
| image = Mustela frenata new.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn
  |author= Reid, F.
  |author2= Helgen, K.
  |name-list-style= amp
  |year=2016
  |page=e.T41654A45213820
  |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T41654A45213820.en
  |title=''Mustela frenata''
  |access-date=18 February 2022}} Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern</ref>
| genus = Neogale
| species = frenata
| authority = ([[Martin Lichtenstein|Lichtenstein]], 1831)
| range_map = Long-tailed Weasel area.png
| range_map_caption = Long-tailed weasel range
| synonyms = ''Mustela frenata''
}}

The '''long-tailed weasel''' ('''''Neogale frenata'''''), also known as the '''bridled weasel''', '''masked ermine''', or '''big stoat''', is a species of [[weasel]] found in [[North America|North]], [[Central America|Central]], and [[South America]]. It is distinct from the [[Stoat|short-tailed weasel]] (''Mustela erminea''), also known as a "stoat", a close relation in the genus ''[[Mustela]]'' that originated in [[Eurasia]] and crossed into [[North America]] some [[Pleistocene|half million years ago]]; the two species are visually similar, having long, slender bodies and tails with short legs and a black tail tip. 

Long-tailed weasels exhibit scale-dependent patterns of habitat selection, favoring forest patches, fencerows, and drainage ditches while avoiding agricultural fields. <ref name=":2">Gehring, T. M., & Swihart, R. K. (2021). Habitat use by Long-tailed Weasels in a Fragmented Agricultural Landscape. The American Midland Naturalist, 186(1), 136–149.</ref> They typically make their habitats in forests and underground in burrows of other small mammals. <ref name=":4" />