American Marten
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| American Marten | |
|---|---|
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| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Mustelidae |
| Genus: | Martes |
| Species: | M. americana |
| Binomial name | |
| Martes americana (Turton, 1806) |
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The American marten (Martes americana) is a North American member of the Mustelidae family, sometimes referred to as the Pine Marten. The term Pine Marten is also used to refer to a separate Martes species from Europe. It differs from the fisher (Martes pennanti) in that it is smaller in size.
The marten lives in mature coniferous or mixed forests in Alaska and Canada, and south into Northern New England[2][3][4] and through the Rocky Mountains. Trapping and destruction of forest habitat have reduced its numbers, but it is still much more abundant than the larger fisher. The Newfoundland subspecies of this animal (Martes americana atrata) is considered to be endangered.
The American Marten has a long slender body covered in glossy brownish fur with a lighter coloured throat, a long bushy tail and a pointed snout. Like those of cats, its claws are semi-retractable, and aid it in climbing trees. It also has very large foot pads in relation to body weight allowing it to walk on hard snow. This provides the marten with a distinct advantage in areas that receive heavy snows.
The animal is omnivorous, preferring to catch and eat small mammals, especially the American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus), but readily consuming fish, frogs, insects, carrion, and fruit and other vegetation when available. It is most active at night, early morning, and late afternoon. It is usually solitary outside of the mating season. Males defend a territory of one to three square miles, and can be very aggressive toward other males. Mating occurs during the summer, but implantation of the fertilized egg is delayed (delayed implantation [1]) and 1 to 5 young "kits" are born the following spring in a den in a hollow tree or rock cavity.
The fur of the American Marten is shiny and luxuriant, resembling that of the closely related sable. At the turn of the twentieth century, the American Marten population was depleted due to the fur trade. The Hudson's Bay Company traded in pelts from this species among others. Numerous protection measures and reintroduction efforts have allowed the population to increase, but deforestation is still a problem for the marten in much of its habitat. Hunting of the American Marten is currently legal in certain areas during a short hunting season.
[edit] References
- ^ Reid, F. & Helgen, K. (2008) Martes americana In: IUCN 2009. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2009.2. www.iucnredlist.org Retrieved on 07 February 2010.
- ^ http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/library/Reports_and_Documents/nongame_and_Natural_Heritage/species_lists/Mammals_of_Vermont.pdf List of Vermont's Wild Mammals
- ^ http://www.state.me.us/ifw/wildlife/species/pdfs/mammal_sheet.pdf List of Wild Mammals in Maine
- ^ http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife/Nongame/species_list.htm List of New Hampshire Wildlife
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Martes americana |
- Martes americana on Animal Diversity
- Nowak, Ronald M. (2005). Walker's Carnivores of the World. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press. ISBN 0-8018-8032-7
