No negative effects. Martes martes avoids human settlements, and has never been known as a pest. (pp. 410-411 in Grzimek 1990)
Martes martes is a medium-sized carnivore, about the size and proportions of a large domestic cat. Head and body length is 450-580 mm, tail length is 160-280 mm. Substantial size variation is found geographically. Sexual dimorphism is also seen in size, with males outweighing females by 12-30%. The fur is a rich brown coat that is thick and silky in the winter and short and coarse in the summer. Pads on the soles are completely covered with fur in the winter. Juveniles acquire their adult pelage in their first winter, and a complete molt occurs only once a year, in the spring. The winter fur grows in September. The coloration includes an irregular, creamy-orange throat patch, a grayish tint on the belly, and darkening on the paws. The tail is long and bushy and the ears are relatively large and triangular. An abdominal scent gland is present, as well as anal scent glands.
The pine marten is an adept tree climber, with many adaptations including bone and muscle structure for powerful forelimbs, long tail to aid in balancing, and well-developed claws (Grzimek 1990, Corbet and Southern 1977, Nowak 1999).
Range mass: 480 to 1800 g.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average basal metabolic rate: 4 W.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 17.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: wild: 10.0 years.
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 15.0 years.
Martes martes prefer forest habitats, including deciduous, mixed, and coniferous forest. Old-growth forest is often preferred over young forest (Overskaug et al 1994). The species is considered to be a habitat specialist. Having a closed treetop as cover from predation is thought to be an important habitat criterion for pine martens. They are found outside of forest, however. On the island of Minorca, Martes martes showed no habitat preference, living in shrubland and seemingly indifferent to tree cover (Clevenger 1994). It is thought that the absence of predators on the island has allowed the martens to become habitat generalists. In Scotland, pine martens frequent many habitat types. They are seen in young forest plantations, coarse grassland, heather and grass moorland, and borders. Stone dykes are used as runways to get from area to another (Gurnell et al 1994).
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest
The European pine marten is distributed through most portions of continental Eurasia from western Europe in the west to western Siberia in the east, from the northern edge of coniferous forest in the north to Asia Minor in the south. The species also inhabits the Caucasus and many Mediterranean islands including the Balearic Islands, Corsica, Sardinia, Elba and Sicily. The degree to which island populations are due to human introduction is not entirely known. Formerly widespread in Great Britain, it is now restricted to Ireland and northern portions of mainland Britain (Corbet and Southern 1977, Nowak 1999).
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native )
The pine marten is omnivorous. It favors animal food, relying on small mammals for most of the year. The diet composition and proportion often change according to season and local conditions. Populations respond to the unpredictable cycles of rodents, such as voles, by drastically increasing their consumption of these prey items (Zalewski et al 1995). The reproductive characteristics of Martes martes prevent it from closely tracking the rodent cycles: a population increase is seen a full year after a rodent boom. When fruits and berries become abundant in the autumn, martens may fill 30% of their diet with these resources (in Scotland and on the island of Minorca). In other regions, such as Poland, fruits may never be eaten (Zalewski et al 1995, Clevenger 1993, Gurnell et al 1994). Aside from the effects of seasonally available fruits and unpredictable rodent booms, diet is otherwise reasonably constant. Favored foods include voles, squirrels, other small mammals, birds, insects, carrion, and frogs, reptiles, and snails. Diets of pine martens that forage along a loch in Scotland have been recorded to include crabs, echinoderms, and barnacles (Gurnell et al 1994).
Food is stored in the summer and autumn to compensate for low winter resources (Helldin and Lindstrom 1995). Martens are skillful treetop hunters, racing on thin, swinging branches and leaping from one treetop to another in pursuit of a squirrel. Their arboreal adaptations discussed earlier allow this acrobatic ability. Foraging also occurs extensively on the forest floor. In habitats other than forest, all foraging is completed on the ground. Several skull attributes allow martens to be remarkable predatators: elongated braincase allows for insertion of an elarged temporalis muscle; a large flange on the mandibular fossae prevent dislocation of the lower jaw; and, well-developed shearing and crushing cheekteeth. These characteristics aid martens in capture, restraint and processing of prey (Zalewski et al 1995, Clevenger 1993, Gurnell et al 1994, Grzimek 1990, Helldin and Lindstrom 1995).
The winter coat of the European pine marten has always been much in demand. The species has been successfully kept on fur farms. Life history characteristics, however, prevent trade of pine marten fur from being feasible on a large commercial scale (Grzimek 1990).
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
Reproduction in European pine martens is tied closely to the seasonality of their temperate habitats, as it is in many members of the family Mustelidae. Mating and fertilization in July and August is followed by a period of delayed implantation that lasts about seven months. Implantation occurs in late February and March. The timing of implantation responds to photoperiod, specifically to the spring increase in duration of daylight. Postimplantation development lasts 30-35 days, and parturition occurs in late March through April. Each litter produces an average of three young (range, 2-5). Adult females only have four functional mammae.
Adult male pine martens exhibit a distinct seasonal testicular cycle. Males complete testicular development a full month before estrous, and begin regression about the time females enter estrous. The first visible sign of estrous in females is an enlarged vulva. Most matings occur within a 30- to 45-day period, during which females may exhibit one to four periods of sexual receptivity. These periods last for 1-4 days and have an interval of 6-17 days. Copulation is prolonged, lasting 30-50 minutes, and may occur on the ground or in trees. In captivity, multiple copulations with one or more males can occur during each period of receptivity. A "false heat" occurs in February and March, corresponding to implantation and the beginnings of pregnancy. The increased social activity and intrasexual aggression may facilitate late dispersal of yearlings (Helldin and Lindstrom 1995).
At birth, young of Martes martes weigh about 30 g. They are blind, deaf and toothless, and have thick, short fur. The eyes open at 34-38 days. Young martens begin consuming solid food at 36-45 days, and weaning occurs about six weeks after parturition. At 7-8 weeks, young emerge from the den and may begin dispersing at 12-16 weeks, during the breeding season. Some young may overwinter in the natal territory and disperse in the following spring.
In the wild, male and female Martes martes may mate in their first summer, at 14 months of age. The first mating season, however, may typically be deferred until the second or third year. In captivity, most males do not breed until 27 months old. This could be due to stress incurred under captive conditions or inaccuracy in aging wild animals. In captivity, Martes martes lives about 15 years, and males can be sexually vigorous throughout their lives. (Mead 1994, Helldin and Lindstrom 1995).
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
Average birth mass: 30 g.
Average gestation period: 28 days.
Average number of offspring: 4.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 426 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 456 days.
The European pine marten (Martes martes), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.[1] It is less commonly also known as baum marten,[2] or sweet marten.[3]
The European pine marten's fur is usually light to dark brown. It is short and coarse in the summer, growing longer and silkier during the winter. It has a cream- to yellow-coloured "bib" marking on its throat. Its body is up to 53 cm (21 in) long, with a bushy tail of about 25 cm (10 in). Males are slightly larger than females; typically, it weighs around 1.5–1.7 kg (3.3–3.7 lb). It has excellent senses of sight, smell, and hearing.[4]
The European pine marten inhabits well-wooded areas.
In Great Britain, the species was for many years common only in northwestern Scotland.[5] A study in 2012 found that martens have spread from their Scottish Highlands stronghold, north into Sutherland and Caithness and southeastwards from the Great Glen into Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perthshire, Tayside, and Stirlingshire, with some in the Central Belt, on the Kintyre and Cowal peninsulas and on Skye and Mull. The expansion in the Galloway Forest has been limited compared with that in the core marten range. Martens were reintroduced to the Glen Trool Forest in the early 1980s and only restricted spread has occurred from there.[6] This may be due to ongoing persecution and trapping by local gamekeepers.
In England, pine martens were long considered to be extinct. Analysis of a scat found at Kidland Forest in Northumberland in June 2010 may represent either a recolonisation from Scotland, or a relict population that has escaped notice previously.[7] There have been numerous reported sightings of pine martens in Cumbria; however, it was not until 2011 that concrete proof—some scat that was DNA-tested—was found,[8] followed in October 2022 by images being captured of a pine marten in Grizedale Forest.[9]
In July 2015, the first confirmed sighting of a pine marten in England for over a century was recorded by an amateur photographer in woodland in Shropshire.[10] Sightings have continued in this area, and juveniles were recorded in 2019, indicating a breeding population.[11] In July 2017, footage of a live pine marten was captured by a camera trap in the North York Moors in Yorkshire.[12][13] In March 2018 the first ever footage of a pine marten in Northumberland was captured by the Back from the Brink pine marten project.[14] In September 2022, the first pine marten to be seen in London in a century was spotted by the Zoological Society of London's wildlife cameras as part of a hedgehog monitoring program.[15]
There is a small population of pine martens in Wales. Scat found in Cwm Rheidol forest in 2007 was confirmed by DNA testing to be from a pine marten. A male was found in 2012 as road kill near Newtown, Powys. This was the first confirmation in Wales of the species, living or dead, since 1971.[16] The Vincent Wildlife Trust (VWT) has begun a reinforcement of these mammals in the mid-Wales area. During autumn 2015, 20 pine martens were captured in Scotland, in areas where a healthy pine marten population occurs, under licence from Scottish Natural Heritage. These animals were translocated and released in an area of mid-Wales. All of the martens were fitted with radio collars and are being tracked daily to monitor their movements and find out where they have set up territories. During autumn 2016, the VWT planned to capture and release another 20 pine martens in the hope of creating a self-sustaining population.[17]
The marten is still quite rare in Ireland, but the population is recovering and spreading; its traditional strongholds are in the west and south, especially the Burren and Killarney National Park, but the population in the Midlands has significantly increased in recent years.[18] A study managed by academics at Queen's University Belfast, using cameras and citizen scientists, published in 2015, showed that pine martens were distributed across all counties of Northern Ireland.[19]
Martens are the only mustelids with semiretractable claws. This enables them to lead more arboreal lifestyles, such as climbing or running on tree branches, although they are also relatively quick runners on the ground. They are mainly active at night and dusk. They have small, rounded, highly sensitive ears and sharp teeth adapted for eating small mammals, birds, insects, frogs, and carrion. They have also been known to eat berries, birds' eggs, nuts, and honey. The European pine marten is territorial and marks its home range by depositing feces. Its scat is black and twisted.[5] The diet of the pine marten includes small mammals, carrion, birds, insects, and fruits.
The recovery of the European pine marten in Ireland has been credited with reducing the population of invasive grey squirrels.[20] Where the range of the expanding European pine marten population meets that of the grey squirrel, the population of the grey squirrels quickly retreats and the red squirrel population recovers. Because the grey squirrel spends more time on the ground than the red squirrel, which co-evolved with the pine marten, they are thought to be far more likely to come in contact with this predator.[21]
The European pine marten has lived to 18 years in captivity, but the maximum age recorded in the wild is only 11 years, with 3–4 years being more typical. They reach sexual maturity at 2–3 years of age. Copulation usually occurs on the ground and can last more than 1 hour.[22] Mating occurs in July and August but the fertilized egg does not enter the uterus for about 7 months. The young are usually born in late March or early April after a month-long gestation period that happens after the implantation of the fertilized egg, in litters of one to five.[4] Young European pine martens weigh around 30 grams (1.1 oz) at birth. The young begin to emerge from their dens around 7–8 weeks after birth and are able to disperse from the den around 12–16 weeks after their birth.
Larger mammalian predators and birds of prey such as Wolverines, red foxes, golden eagle, white-tailed eagles, northern goshawks and Eurasian eagle owl prey on pine martens, especially young individuals.[23]
Humans are the largest threat to European pine martens. They are vulnerable to conflict with humans, arising from predator control for other species, or following predation of livestock and the use of inhabited buildings for denning. Martens may also be affected by woodland loss, which results in habitat loss for the animal.[6] Persecution (illegal poisoning and shooting), loss of habitat leading to fragmentation, and other human disturbances have caused a considerable decline in the European pine marten population. In some areas, they are also prized for their very fine fur. In the UK, European pine martens and their dens are offered full protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990.[24]
The European pine marten (Martes martes), also known as the pine marten, is a mustelid native to and widespread in most of Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus and parts of Iran, Iraq and Syria. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. It is less commonly also known as baum marten, or sweet marten.
