nilgiri marten
{{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
| genus = Martes
| species = gwatkinsii
| authority = (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 and parts of the Western Ghats. With only around a thousand members left it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Taxonomy
The Nilgiri marten was described by Thomas Horsfield based on a skin in the museum of the East India Company; it is named after the collector Reynolds Gwatkins.{{cite book |title=Catalogue of the Mammalia in the Museum of the Hon. East-India Company |year=1851 |location=London |publisher=Printed by J. & H. Cox |pages=99–101 |doi=10.5962/bhl.title.32671 |doi-access=free |oclc=1109424 |ol=243736W |ol-access=free}}
Characteristics
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 concavity and is larger than the yellow-throated marten.{{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}}
It is about {{cvt|55-65|cm}} long from head to vent and has a tail of {{cvt|40-45|cm}}. It weighs about {{cvt|2.1|kg}}.{{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 |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=1–38}}{{rp|6}}
Distribution and habitat
File:Nilgiri Marten (Martes gwatkinsii).jpg]]
The Nilgiri marten mainly inhabits the shola grasslands and South Western Ghats montane rain forests, and occasionally the adjacent South Western Ghats moist deciduous forests and commercial plantations, that span the Western Ghats in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The Nilgiri Hills form the center of its range, but sightings have also been reported in Charmadi Ghat and in the Neyyar and Peppara Wildlife Sanctuaries.{{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 |journal=Small Carnivore Conservation |volume=15 |pages=3–4 |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}}{{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 |journal=Small Carnivore Conservation |volume=13 |pages=6–7 |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}}{{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}}{{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 |place=Dehradun |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=65–70}}{{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 |journal=Small Carnivore Conservation |volume=33 |pages=14–16 |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}}{{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 |journal=Small Carnivore Conservation |volume=43 |pages=23–27 |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}}
Behaviour and ecology
The Nilgiri marten is diurnal. It is mainly arboreal, but descends to the ground occasionally. It is omnivorous and preys on birds, small mammals (including the Malabar giant squirrel) and insects such as cicadas.{{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}} It has also been observed feeding on a variety of fruits and seeds.{{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}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110126034423/http://frontlineonnet.com/fl2605/stories/20090313260506400.htm Photographs: Close encounters in the wild]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20091226201223/http://www.nilgirimarten.com/ NilgiriMarten.com] (archived 26 December 2009)
{{Carnivora|M.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q602823}}
Category:Mammals of Tamil Nadu
Category:Fauna of the Western Ghats