Fishing marten

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Fishing marten
Fisher-animal-snow-storm - West Virginia - ForestWander.jpg

Fishing marten ( pekania pennanti )

Systematics
Subordination : Canine (Caniformia)
Superfamily : Marten relatives (Musteloidea)
Family : Marten (Mustelidae)
Subfamily : Guloninae
Genre : Pekania
Type : Fishing marten
Scientific name of the  genus
Pekania
JE Gray , 1865
Scientific name of the  species
Pekania pennanti
( Erxleben , 1777)

The fishing marten , also called pecan ( Pekania pennanti , syn .: Martes pennanti ), is a North American species of predator from the marten family (Mustelidae). Despite its name (in English it is simply referred to as " fisher " or " wejack ") fish play almost no role as prey. This animal got its name because it is said to occasionally steal bait fish from traps.

features

In their physique, fishing marten resemble the martens living in Europe, but they are significantly larger and are the largest representatives of the family after the wolverine ( Gulo gulo ) and the tayra ( Eira barbara ). The head-body length is 49 to 63 centimeters, plus a 25 to 43 centimeter long tail. The weight of the males is 2.6 to 5.5 kilograms, females are considerably lighter with 1.3 to 3.2 kilograms. Their fur is predominantly brown in color, with whitish spots on their chest and stomach. Their bodies are heavier than other martens.

distribution and habitat

Distribution area of ​​the fishing marten

Their range covers the southern half of Canada , in the United States they are native to the Rocky Mountains , the Great Lakes , New England and the Appalachians . Their habitat is primarily coniferous forests, but they also inhabit other forms of forest, avoiding open areas such as prairies.

In the southern part of their original habitat, a large part of their habitat was lost at the beginning of the 19th century due to deforestation, slash and burn, and settlement. This habitat loss, along with hunting and the use of strychnine as a crop pest and predator control method, has greatly reduced or eliminated the population. There have been several resettlements in different parts of the country since the 1950s.

Way of life

Fishing martens are good at climbing

Fishing marten can be active both day and night. Unlike other martens, they do not create permanent nests, but they sometimes seek refuge in hollow tree trunks, abandoned animal burrows or burrows in the ground. When foraging for food, they mainly stay on the ground, but they can climb and swim very well.

These animals are solitary and territorial. The average territory size for males is 38 square kilometers and for females 15 square kilometers. The territorial boundaries are vehemently defended against same-sex conspecifics, but the territories of males and females can overlap.

food

Their diet consists mainly of small mammals, they eat mice , rabbits and gray squirrels , among other things, they are particularly specialized in tree porcupines . Birds, carrion and fruits complete the menu.

Reproduction

The mating season is from March to May, but the fertilized egg cell is delayed in implantation, so that the actual gestation period does not begin until the following January to April. After around 30 days, the female gives birth to around three young animals. These are housed in a tree cavity and are initially blind. They open their eyes after seven weeks, start walking after eight weeks, and are weaned at eight to ten weeks. They are self-employed at five months and sexually mature at one to two years of age. Life expectancy is ten years.

Systematics

The fishing marten was originally assigned to the genus of the real marten ( Martes ), but is now the only species in the genus Pekania , since the wolverine (genus Gulo ) is more closely related to the other members of the genus Martes than the fishing marten. The genus Martes would therefore be paraphyletic if the fishing marten were included . The relationships within the Martinae subfamily are illustrated by the following cladogram .

  Martinae  

 Tayra ( Eira barbara )


   

 Fishing marten ( pekania pennanti )


   

 Wolverine ( gulo gulo )


  Genus  Martes  
  Subgenus  Charronia  

 Great Red Marten ( Martes flavigula )


   

 South Indian red marten ( Martes gwatkinsii )



  Subgenus  Martes  

 Beech marten ( Martes foina )


   

 Spruce marten ( Martes americana )


   

 Japanese marten ( Martes melampus )


   

 Pine marten ( Martes martes )


   

 Sable ( Martes zibellina )










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Danger

They have been hunted for a long time because of their fur (also called Virginian polecat), but not as intensely as the spruce marten . Habitat degradation has also caused populations to decline, making them nearly extinct in the United States and eastern Canada by the early 20th century. As the tree porcupines , which can cause considerable tree damage by gnawing , then increased rapidly, protective measures were introduced in the 1930s. Numerous resettlement projects have been carried out and are now more common again in the United States.

literature

  • Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . 6th edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 (English).

Individual evidence

  1. Milan Novak et al., Ministry of Natural Resources: Wild furbearer management and conservation in North America . Ontario 1987, p. 40 (English). ISBN 0-7778-6086-4
  2. Bo Li, Mieczyslaw Wolsan, Dan Wu, Wei Zhang, Yanchun Xu, Zhaohui Zeng: Mitochondrial genomes reveal the pattern and timing of marten (Martes), wolverine (Gulo), and fisher (Pekania) diversification. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, August 2014, DOI: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2014.08.002
  3. Klaus-Peter Koepfli, Kerry A. Deere, Graham J. Slater, Colleen Begg, Keith Begg, Lon Grassman, Mauro Lucherini, Geraldine Veron & Robert K. Wayne: Multigene phylogeny of the Mustelidae: Resolving relationships, tempo and biogeographic history of a mammalian adaptive radiation. BMC Biology 2008, 6:10 doi: 10.1186 / 1741-7007-6-10
  4. Sato, JJ, M. Wolsan, FJ Prevosti, G. D'Elia, C. Begg, K. Begg, T. Hosoda, KL Campbell & H. Suzuki. 2012. Evolutionary and biogeographic history of weasel-like carnivorans (Musteloidea). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 63: 745-757. DOI: 10.1016 / j.ympev.2012.02.025

Web links

Commons : fishing marten  - album with pictures, videos and audio files