Martens

A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on the species; it is valued by animal trappers for the fur trade. Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in the taiga, which inhabit coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the Northern Hemisphere.

Classification

Results of DNA research indicate that the genus ''Martes'' is paraphyletic, with some studies placing ''Martes americana'' outside the genus and allying it with ''Eira'' and ''Gulo'', to form a new New World clade. The genus first evolved up to seven million years ago during the Miocene epoch.

Fossils

Several fossil martens have been described, including:
*†''Martes campestris'' (Pliocene)
*†''Martes wenzensis'' (Pliocene)
*†''Martes vetus'' (Pleistocene)

Another described fossil species, ''Martes nobilis'' from the Holocene, is now considered synonymous with the American marten.

Etymology

The Modern English "marten" comes from the Middle English 'Mearth' or in turn borrowed from the Anglo-French and Old French (Latin ), itself from a Germanic source; cf. Old English , Old Norse , and Old High German and Yiddish . A group of martens is called a "richness."

Ecology and behaviour

Martens are solitary animals, meeting only to breed in late spring or early summer. Litters of up to five blind and nearly hairless kits are born in early spring. They are weaned after around two months, and leave the mother to fend for themselves at about three to four months of age.
They are omnivorous.

Cultural references

Canada

The marten is populous in the northern Ontario community of Big Trout Lake. During the fur trade, commissioned by the Hudson Bay Company in the 18th and 19th centuries, the marten pelt was typically fashioned into mittens. The marten is still traded locally. The locals place a high value on this pelt, typically trading it for consumable goods.

Croatia

In the Middle Ages, marten pelts were highly valued goods used as a form of payment in Slavonia, the Croatian Littoral, and Dalmatia. The banovac, a coin struck and used between 1235 and 1384, included the image of a marten. This is one of the reasons why the Croatian word for marten, ''kuna'', is the name of the modern Croatian currency. A marten is depicted on the obverse of the 1-, 2-, and 5- kuna coins, minted since 1993, and on the reverse of the 25-kuna commemorative coins.

A running marten is shown on the coat of arms of Slavonia and subsequently on the modern design of the coat of arms of Croatia. The official seal of the Croatian Sabor (parliament) from 1497 until the late 18th century had a similar design.Ivan Bojničić-Kninski
Grbovnica kraljevine "Slavonije", (1895)
- PDF file (in Croatian)

Finland

The Finnish communications company Nokia derives its name, via the river Nokianvirta, from a type of marten locally known as the ''nokia''.

Greece

In the '' Illiad,'' the fleet-footed spy Dolon wore a marten-pelt cap.

Italy

The Latin word for helmet, ''galea,'' originally meant "marten pelt," although it is unclear whether early Romans wore these helmets for symbolical reasons or for their fine fur.

References

External links

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Mammals of Asia
Mammals of Canada
Carnivorans of Europe
Mammals of North America
Extant Miocene first appearances