Martes foina
The beech marten is a medium-sized mutelid which has brown fur (with a white a patch in the neck) and very wide geographical range. It looks alike the european pine marten, but the two species can be differentiated through many characteristics (see "diagnostic description" for more details). It measures 38-59 cm in body length, 23-32 cm in tail length and 1.1-2.1 kg in body mass. The males are larger and heavier than the females. The body mas is lowerin winter due to the lack of food resources.
It breeds in June-July and the gestation lasts about 6-7 months. The juveniles reach sexual maturity at 15-27 months. The lifespan is about 10 years in the wild and 18 years in captivity.
According to the IUCN the species is considered as Least Concern (2016).
The beech marten can be mistaken with the european pine marten, but there are several characteristics that can help the distinction between the two species. The beech marten has longer tail, longer and angular head, rounded and widely spaced ears, gray nose, shorter limbs, coarser fur, lighter fur tone, whitish underfur and the throat patch is white.
There are 11 valid subspecies of the beech marten. In Greece we can find the subspecies Martes foina bosniaca (mainland), Martes foina bunites (Crete, Skopelos, Naxos, Erimomilos, Karpathos, Samothrake, Seriphos and Kythnos) and Martes foina milleri (Rhodes).
Distribution (worldwide)
Martes foina occurs in the whole Europe (excluding Great Britain, Siberian peninsula, Sicily, Corsica, Balearids, Sicily, Malta and Cyprus), Asia Minor, the eastern coasts of Mediterranean, the region around Himalaya and some fragmented populations between Europe and Indian peninsula.
Distribution (Greece)
The beech marten can be found in the whole mainland and in many islands in the Ionian and Aegean Sea.