A marten is a
weasel
Weasels are mammals of the genus ''Mustela'' of the family Mustelidae. The genus ''Mustela'' includes the least weasels, polecats, stoats, ferrets and European mink. Members of this genus are small, active predators, with long and slend ...
-like mammal in the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...
''Martes'' within the
subfamily
In biological classification, a subfamily (Latin: ', plural ') is an auxiliary (intermediate) taxonomic rank, next below family but more inclusive than genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classifica ...
Guloninae
Guloninae is a subfamily of the mammal family Mustelidae distributed across Eurasia and the Americas. It includes martens and the fisher, tayra and wolverine. These genera were formerly included within a paraphyletic definition of the mustelid ...
, in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
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
Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, sp ...
, which inhabit
coniferous and northern
deciduous
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...
forests across the
Northern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...
.
Classification
Results of
DNA research indicate that the genus ''Martes'' is
paraphyletic
In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In ...
, with some studies placing ''Martes americana'' outside the genus and allying it with ''
Eira'' and ''
Gulo'', to form a new
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English ter ...
. The genus first evolved up to seven million years ago during the
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
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
The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togeth ...
, is now considered synonymous with the American marten.
Etymology
The
Modern English "marten" comes from the
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...
'Mearth' or in turn borrowed from the
Anglo-French and
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...
(
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
), itself from a
Germanic source;
cf. Old English
Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...
,
Old Norse
Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...
, and
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050.
There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old Hig ...
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
Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Pro ...
community of
Big Trout Lake
Big Trout Lake is a large lake in Northern Ontario. The Fawn River flows into it from the west and drains it from the east. The reserve of the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, also known as Big Trout Lake, is located on Post Island on ...
. 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
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
, marten pelts were highly valued goods used as a form of payment in
Slavonia
Slavonia (; hr, Slavonija) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria, one of the four historical regions of Croatia. Taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with five Croatian counties: Brod-Posavina, Osijek-Bar ...
, the
Croatian Littoral, and
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see names in other languages) is one of the four historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of the Adriatic Sea, str ...
. 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
Kuna may refer to:
Places
* Kuna, Idaho, a town in the United States
** Kuna Caves, a lava tube in Idaho
* Kuna Peak, a mountain in California
* , a village in the Orebić municipality, Croatia
* , a village in the Konavle municipality, Croatia ...
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 coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia ( hr, Grb Republike Hrvatske) consists of one main shield and five smaller shields which form a crown over the main shield. The main coat of arms is a checkerboard (chequy) that consists of 13 red an ...
. 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
Nokia Corporation (natively Nokia Oyj, referred to as Nokia) is a Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, established in 1865. Nokia's main headquarters are in Espoo, Finland, i ...
derives its name, via the river
Nokianvirta
Nokianvirta is a river of Finland. It flows from the lake Pyhäjärvi near Tampere to the lake Kulovesi, which is a part of a lake system from which the Kokemäki River begins its course towards the Gulf of Bothnia. Nokianvirta flows through ...
, from a type of marten locally known as the ''nokia''.
Greece
In the ''
Illiad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyss ...
,'' 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
*
*
{{Authority control
Mammals of Asia
Mammals of Canada
Carnivorans of Europe
Mammals of North America
Extant Miocene first appearances