MARTEN

:''For the Wiltshire village see Marten, Wiltshire.''
''For the town in Bulgaria, see Marten, Bulgaria.''
The 'Martens' constitute the genus '''Martes''' within the subfamily Mustelinae, in family Mustelidae. Martens are carnivorous animals related to wolverines, minks and weasels. Many are tree-dwellers, preying most commonly on squirrels. Their diet also consists of birds, fish, insects and eggs.
Recent DNA research has shown that the genus ''Martes'' is in fact polyphyletic, placing ''Martes pennanti'' and ''Martes americana'' outside the genus and allying it with Eira and Gulo, to form a new New World clade.

Contents

Etymology

Species

Etymology

The word ''"marten"'' is of original Germanic origin. The Modern English ''"marten"'' comes from the Middle English ''"martryn"'', in turn derived from the Anglo-French ''"martrine"'' and Old French ''"martre"''. (Compare to French ''"martes"''.)
The word for marten in Croatian is ''"kuna"'' and this word has been adopted as the name of the national currency of Croatia.

Species

★ American Marten ''Martes americana''

★ Yellow-throated Marten ''Martes flavigula''

★ Beech Marten ''Martes foina''

★ Nilgiri Marten ''Martes gwatkinsii''

★ Pine Marten ''Martes martes''

★ Japanese Marten ''Martes melampus''

★ Fisher ''Martes pennanti''

★ Sable ''Martes zibellina''