Nilgiri marten

2021-08-19T21:18:35Z

2601:647:4180:6010:D549:CB10:5CAF:760B:

{{Short description|Species of carnivore}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Nilgiri marten
| image = Nilgiri marten by N A Nazeer.jpg
| image_caption =
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Martes gwatkinsii'' |last1=Mudappa |first1=D. |last2=Jathana |first2=D. |last3=Raman |first3=T. R. S. |name-list-style=amp |date=2015 |volume=2015 |page=e.T12847A86161239}}</ref>
| genus = Martes
| species = gwatkinsii
| authority = ([[Thomas Horsfield|Horsfield]], 1851)
| range_map = Nilgiri Marten area.png
| range_map_caption = Nilgiri marten range
| synonyms = ''Charronia gwatkinsii''
}}

The '''Nilgiri marten''' (''Martes gwatkinsii'') is the only [[marten]] species native to southern [[India]]. It lives in the hills of the [[Nilgiris (mountains)|Nilgiris]] and parts of the [[Western Ghats]]. With only around a thousand members left it is listed as [[Vulnerable species|Vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]].<ref name=iucn/>

==Description==
[[File:Nilgiri Marten (Martes gwatkinsii).jpg|thumb|left|Two Nilgiri martens in [[Pampadum Shola National Park]]]]
The Nilgiri marten is deep brown from head to rump, with the forequarters being almost reddish, with a bright throat ranging in colour from yellow to orange. It has a prominent frontal [[wikt:concave|concavity]] and is larger than the [[yellow-throated marten]].<ref name=Prater>{{cite book |last=Prater |first=S. H. |author-link=Stanley Henry Prater |title=The Book of Indian Animals |publisher=Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University Press |location=Mumbai |year=2005 |orig-year=1971 |edition=3rd }}</ref> It is about {{convert|55-65|cm|abbr=on}} long from head to vent and has a tail of {{convert|40-45|cm|abbr=on}}. It weighs about {{convert|2.1|kg|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Hussain1999">{{cite journal |last=Hussain |first=S. A. |author-link=S. A. Hussain |year=1999 |title=Mustelids, Viverrids and Herpestids of India: Species Profile and Conservation Status |url=https://archive.org/details/MustelidsViverridsIndia/page/n6 |journal=ENVIS Bulletin: Wildlife and Protected Areas |publisher=[[Wildlife Institute of India]] |publication-place=Dehradun |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=1–38 |issn=0972-088X}}</ref>{{rp|6}}

==Distribution and habitat==
The Nilgiri marten mainly inhabits the [[shola|shola grassland]] and [[South Western Ghats montane rain forests|high altitude evergreen forests]], and occasionally the adjacent [[South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests|mid-altitude moist deciduous forests]] and commercial plantations, that span the [[Western Ghats]] in the [[South India]]n states of [[Karnataka]], [[Kerala]], and [[Tamil Nadu]]. The marten's English common name is derived from the [[Nilgiri Hills]] that form the center of its range, but sightings have been reported as far north as [[Charmadi|Charmadi Ghat]] and as far south as the [[Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary|Neyyar]] and [[Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary|Peppara Wildlife Sanctuaries]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Christopher |first1=G. |last2=Jayson |first2=E. A. |name-list-style=amp |year=1996 |title=Sightings of Nilgiri marten (''Martes gwatkinsii'' Horsfield) at Peppara Wildlife Sanctuary and Silent Valley National Park, Kerala, India |url=http://nebula.wsimg.com/64d3896788bb835fc33faca74f75641f?AccessKeyId=35E369A09ED705622D78&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 |format=PDF |journal=Small Carnivore Conservation |volume=15 |pages=3–4 |issn=1019-5041 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419232855/http://nebula.wsimg.com/64d3896788bb835fc33faca74f75641f?AccessKeyId=35E369A09ED705622D78&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 |archive-date=19 April 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Madhusudan |first=M. D. |author-link=Mysore Doreswamy Madhusudan |year=1995 |title=Sighting of the Nilgiri marten (''Martes gwatkinsii'') at Eravikulam National Park, Kerala, India |url=http://nebula.wsimg.com/4a5cc4f2fa3c0b46304f59b6fe74ad45?AccessKeyId=35E369A09ED705622D78&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 |format=PDF |journal=Small Carnivore Conservation |volume=13 |pages=6–7 |issn=1019-5041 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419231854/http://nebula.wsimg.com/4a5cc4f2fa3c0b46304f59b6fe74ad45?AccessKeyId=35E369A09ED705622D78&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 |archive-date=19 April 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gokula |first1=V. |last2=Ramachandran |first2=N. K. |name-list-style=amp |year=1996 |title=A record of the Nilgiri marten (''Martes gwatkinsii'' Horsfield) in Upper Bhavani |url=https://archive.org/details/journalofbombay931996bomb/page/82/mode/1up |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=93 |issue=1 |page=82 |issn=0006-6982}}</ref><ref name="Mudappa1999">{{cite journal |last=Mudappa |first=D. |year=1999 |title=Lesser Known Carnivores of the Western Ghats |url=https://archive.org/details/MustelidsViverridsIndia/page/n85 |journal=ENVIS Bulletin: Wildlife and Protected Areas |publisher=[[Wildlife Institute of India]] |publication-place=Dehradun |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=65–70 |issn=0972-088X}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Balakrishnan |first=P. |year=2005 |title=Recent sightings and habitat characteristics of the endemic Nilgiri Marten ''Martes gwatkinsii'' in Western Ghats, India |url=http://nebula.wsimg.com/8e6155184fe900bd8dd47aada16e4b88?AccessKeyId=35E369A09ED705622D78&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 |format=PDF |journal=Small Carnivore Conservation |volume=33 |pages=14–16 |issn=1019-5041 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419232550/http://nebula.wsimg.com/8e6155184fe900bd8dd47aada16e4b88?AccessKeyId=35E369A09ED705622D78&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 |archive-date=19 April 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Krishna |first1=K. |last2=Karnad |first2=D. |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=New records of the Nilgiri marten ''Martes gwatkinsii'' in the Western Ghats, India |url=http://nebula.wsimg.com/29fcac2ce03b2ae724f045e27b3d66bf?AccessKeyId=35E369A09ED705622D78&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 |format=PDF |journal=Small Carnivore Conservation |volume=43 |pages=23–27 |issn=1019-5041 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200419233345/http://nebula.wsimg.com/29fcac2ce03b2ae724f045e27b3d66bf?AccessKeyId=35E369A09ED705622D78&disposition=0&alloworigin=1 |archive-date=19 April 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:Martes gwatkinsii Nilgiri Marten crossing the road in Anaimalai hills collage.jpg|thumb|center|upright=2.5|Photomontage of a Nilgiri marten crossing the road in the [[Anaimalai Hills]]]]
The species is named after the collector Reynolds Gwatkins who gave a specimen to Colonel W.H. Sykes and was described by Thomas Horsfield from the skin in the museum of the East India Company.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/catalogueofmamma00eastrich/page/100/mode/1up|title=A Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Museum of the Hon. East India Company |year=1851|pages=99-101}}</ref>

==Ecology and behaviour==
[[File:Nilgiri marten Nelliyampathy.jpg|thumb|left|Nilgiri marten in the forest near [[Nelliyampathy]]]]
The Nilgiri marten is [[Diurnal animal|diurnal]]. It is mainly [[arboreal]], but descends to the ground occasionally. It is [[omnivorous]] and [[prey]]s on [[bird]]s, small mammals and insects such as [[cicada]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Hutton |first=A. F. |year=1948 |title=Feeding habits of the Nilgiri marten [''Charronia gwatkinsii'' (Horsfield)] |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=355–356 |url=https://archive.org/details/journalofbo4819481949bomb/page/354 |issn=0006-6982}}</ref><ref name=Prater/> It has also been observed feeding on a variety of fruits and seeds.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Anil, G. |author2=Kishor, N. |author3=Gafoor, N. |author4=Ommer, N. |author5=Nameer, P. O. |name-list-style=amp |date=2018 |title=Observations on the Nilgiri Marten ''Martes gwatkinsii'' (Mammalia: Carnivora: Mustelidae) from Pampadum Shola National Park, the southern Western Ghats, India |journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=11226–11230 |doi=10.11609/jott.3446.10.1.11226-11230 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Martes gwatkinsii}}
* [http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2605/stories/20090313260506400.htm Photographs: Close encounters in the wild]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091226201223/http://www.nilgirimarten.com/ NilgiriMarten.com]

{{Carnivora|M.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q602823}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:marten, Nilgiri}}
[[Category:Martens|Nilgiri marten]]
[[Category:Mammals of India]]
[[Category:Fauna of Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Fauna of the Western Ghats]]
[[Category:Endemic fauna of the Western Ghats]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1851|Nilgiri marten]]

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Nilgiri marten