Marten
the popular English name for any individual of Cuvier's sub-genus Mustela, or of Nilsson's Martes. They are limited to the N. portion of both hemispheres, ranging S. as far as 35° S. in America; one species, the Indian marten, occurs in Java. The species are very similar in their habits, arboreal, habits, arboreal , and, as a rule, carnivorous, though less so than the weasels. According to Rolleston, the common European marten "was ston, functionally the 'cat' of the ancients."
But it is as fur-yielding animals that the martens are most important, and vast MARTHA'S VINEYARD numbers are taken every year to supply the wants of civilization. The finest fur comes from the highest latitudes, principally from North America and Siberia. MARTEN According to Alston, the pine marten (Mustela martes or abietum) is the sole British species; though Bell includes beech marten or stone marten in the fauna. island