Beech marten
Beech marten | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Mustelidae |
Genus: | Martes |
Species: | M. foina
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Binomial name | |
Martes foina (Erxleben, 1777)
| |
Beech marten range |
The beech marten (Martes foina), also known as the stone marten, house marten or white breasted marten, is a species of
Evolution
Its most likely ancestor is Martes vetus, which also gave rise to the pine marten. The earliest M. vetus fossils were found in deposits dated to the
The skull of the beech marten suggests a higher adaptation than the pine marten toward
Subspecies
As of 2005[update],[5] eleven subspecies are recognised.
Subspecies | Trinomial authority | Description | Range | Synonyms |
---|---|---|---|---|
European beech marten Martes f. foina
( Nominate subspecies )
|
Erxleben, 1777 | A small subspecies, with an average-sized skull. In winter, its back varies from light greyish tawny to completely dark brown. The guard hairs are tawny or chestnut brown, while the underfur is very light, pale-grey. The flanks and withers are slightly lighter than the back, and the belly darker. The legs are dark brown and the throat patch pure white. The patch is variable in size and shape.[6] | Balkan Peninsula) and the Iberian Peninsula
|
alba (Bechstein, 1801) domestica (Pinel, 1792) |
Balkan beech marten Martes f. bosniaca | Brass, 1911 | Balkan Peninsula
|
||
Cretan beech marten Martes f. bunites | Bate, 1906 | A smaller subspecies than foina, with a less defined throat patch, which may be absent in some specimens.[7] | Seriphos and Kythnos
|
|
Middle Asian beech marten Martes f. intermedia | Severtzov, 1873 | A smaller subspecies than nehringi, with lighter fur. The back is moderately dark greyish-tawny. The flanks are lighter, but of the same tone as the back. The guard hairs are dark-tawny, while the underfur is almost white. The tail is dark brown. The throat patch is very variable, being sometimes completely undefined.[8] | Montane | altaica (Satunin, 1914) leucolachnaea (Blanford, 1879) |
Tibetan beech marten Martes f. kozlovi | Ognev, 1931 | Eastern Tibet | ||
Iberian beech marten Martes f. mediterranea | Barrett-Hamilton, 1898. | A lighter, less drab coloured form than foina.[9] | Iberian Peninsula | |
Rhodes beech marten Martes f. milleri | Festa, 1914 | Rhodes | ||
Caucasian beech marten Martes f. nehringi | Satunin, 1906 | A large subspecies with a massive skull. The winter coat is quite dark, brownish-tawny or dark tawny with a greyish tint. The flanks are lighter than the back, and the tail and feet are dark brown. The throat patch varies in form and size, but shows a tendency towards reduction.[10] | Caucasus and contiguous parts of Turkey and Iran | |
Crimean beech marten Martes f. rosanowi | Martino and Martino, 1917 | A smaller subspecies than foina, but with near identical colours.[10] | Montane Crimea | |
Syrian beech marten Martes f. syriaca | Nehring, 1902 | A pale coloured subspecies with a smaller skull than the nominative form[11] | Syria | |
Lhasa beech marten Martes f. toufoeus | Hodgson, 1842 | Lhasa, Tibet |
Description
The beech marten is superficially similar to the
Its skull is similar to that of the pine marten, but differs in its shorter facial region, more convex profile, its larger carnassials and smaller molars.[15] The beech marten's penis is larger than the pine marten's, with the bacula of young beech martens often outsizing those of old pine martens. Males measure 430–590 mm in body length, while females measure 380–470 mm. The tail measures 250–320 mm in males and 230–275 mm in females. Males weigh 1.7–1.8 kg in winter and 2–2.1 kg in summer, while females weigh 1.1–1.3 kg in winter and 1.4–1.5 kg in summer.[16]
The beech marten's fur is coarser than the pine marten's, with elastic guard hairs and less dense underfur. Its summer coat is short, sparse and coarse, and the tail is sparsely furred. The colour tone is lighter than the pine marten's. Unlike the pine marten, its underfur is whitish, rather than greyish. The tail is dark-brown, while the back is darker than that of the pine marten. The throat patch of the beech marten is always white. The patch is large and generally has two projections extending backwards to the base of the forelegs and upward on the legs. The dark colour of the belly juts out between the forelegs as a line into the white colour of the chest and sometimes into the neck. In the pine marten, by contrast, the white colour between the forelegs juts backwards as a protrusion into the belly colour.[13]
Behaviour and ecology
The beech marten is mainly a
Social and territorial behaviours
In an area of northeastern Spain, where the beech marten still lives in relatively unmodified habitats, one specimen was recorded to have had a home range of 52.5 ha (130 acres) with two centres of activity. Its period of maximum activity occurred between 6 PM and midnight. Between 9 AM and 6 PM, the animal was found to be largely inactive.
Reproduction and development
Diet
The beech marten's diet includes a much higher quantity of plant food than that of the pine marten and sable. Plant foods eaten by the beech marten include
Relationships with other predators
In areas where the beech marten is sympatric with the pine marten, the two species avoid competing with one another by assuming different
Range
The beech marten is a widespread species which occurs throughout much of
Introduction in North America
The beech marten is present in Wisconsin, particularly near the urban centres surrounding Milwaukee. It is also present in several wooded, upland areas in the Kettle Moraine State Forest, and in nearby woodlands of Walworth, Racine, Waukesha and probably Jefferson Counties. North American beech martens are likely descended from feral animals that escaped a private fur farm in Burlington during the 1940s.[26] They have also been listed as being released or having escaped in 1972.[27]
Relationships with humans
Tameability
British zoologist George Rolleston theorised that the "domestic cat" of the Ancient Greeks and Romans was in fact the beech marten.[28] Pioneering marine biologist Jeanne Villepreux-Power kept two tame beech martens.[29]
Hunting and fur use
Although the beech marten is a valuable animal to the fur trade, its pelt is inferior in quality to that of the pine marten and sable. Beech marten skins on the fur markets of the Soviet Union accounted for only 10–12% of the market presence of pine marten skins. Beech martens were caught only in the Caucasus, in the Montane part of Crimea and (in very small numbers) in the rest of Ukraine, and in the republics of Middle Asia. Because animals with more valuable pelts are rare in those areas, the beech marten is of value to hunters on the local market. Beech martens are captured with jaw traps, or, for live capture, with cage traps. The shooting of beech martens is inefficient, and trailing them with dogs is only successful when the animal can be trapped in a tree hollow.[30]
Car damage
Since the mid-1970s, the beech marten has been known to occasionally cause damage to cars. Cars attacked by martens typically have cut tubes and cables. The reason for this behaviour is not fully known, as the damaged items are not eaten. There is, however, a seasonal peak in marten attacks on cars in spring, when young martens explore their surroundings more often and have yet to learn which items in their habitat are edible or not.[31]
Large Hadron Collider
On 29 April and 21 November 2016, two beech martens shut down the
References
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ S2CID 83563512.
- ^ Spagnesi & De Marina Marinis 2002, p. 238
- ^ Schreiber, A. (1999). "On the status of Martes foina bunites Bate, 1905" (PDF). Small Carnivore Conservation. 20: 20–21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-28. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
- OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 892
- ^ Miller 1912, pp. 381
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 894
- ^ Miller 1912, pp. 380
- ^ a b Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 893
- ISBN 9780951731307.
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 876
- ^ a b Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 877
- ^ a b Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 896–899
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 879
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, p. 881
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 900–902
- ^ López-Martín, J.M.; Ruiz-Olmo, J. & Cahill, S. (1992). "Autumn home range and activity of a Stone Marten (Martes foina Erxleben, 1777) in Northeastern Spain". Miscellània Zoològica. 16: 258–260.
- .
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 899–900
- ^ a b c Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 902
- .
- JSTOR 23736771.
- ^ Mañosa, Santi, et al. "Diet of the Golden Eagle Aquila chrysaetos in two areas on the southern slopes of the Catalan Pyrenees." (2021).
- ^ Hadad, Ezra, et al. "Prey-Base Does Not Influence Breeding Success in Eagle Owls (Bubo bubo) in Judea, Israel." Animals 12.10 (2022): 1280.
- ^ Long, C.A. (1995). "Stone marten (Martes foina) in southeast Wisconsin, U.S.A." (PDF). Small Carnivore Conservation. 13: 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
- ^ Bill Frederickson (3 July 2007). "Martes foina: Current status and distribution" (PDF). Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
- ^ Hamilton, Edward (1896) The Wild Cat of Europe, pp. 80-81, London, HR Porter
- ^ "The 1830s seamstress who solved Aristotle's octopus mystery".
- ^ Heptner & Sludskii 2002, pp. 904
- ^ Lachat, N. (1991). "Stone martens and cars: a beginning war?" (PDF). Small Carnivore Conservation. 5: 4–6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-16. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
- ^ Sample, I. (29 April 2016). "Large Hadron Collider On Paws After Creature Chews Through Wiring", The Guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
- ^ Bertolasi, Stefano and Lamont, Mike for the LHC team (May 2016). "LHC report: Stoat-ally back on track!" CERN Bulletin Issue No. 20-21/2016
- ^ "LHC Morning Meeting" (PDF). 21 November 2016.
- ^ Sample, Ian (2017-01-27). "Totally stuffed: Cern's electrocuted weasel to go on display". The Guardian.
Bibliography
- Brehm, A. E. (1895). Brehm's Life of Animals. Chicago: A. N. Marquis & Company.
- Heptner, V. G.; Sludskii, A. A. (2002). Mammals of the Soviet Union. Vol. II, part 1b, Carnivores (Mustelidae and Procyonidae). Washington, D.C. : Smithsonian Institution Libraries and National Science Foundation. ISBN 978-90-04-08876-4.
- Miller, Gerrit Smith (1912). Catalogue of the mammals of Western Europe (Europe exclusive of Russia) in the collection of the British museum. London : printed by order of the Trustees.
- Pocock, R. I. (1941). The Fauna of British India, Including Ceylon and Burma. Vol. Mammals Volume 2. Taylor and Francis.
- Spagnesi, M.; De Marina Marinis, M. (2002). "Mammiferi d'Italia" (PDF). Quaderni di Conservazione della Natura. ISSN 1592-2901.[permanent dead link]