Martes martes (Linnaeus, 1758)

Marciszak, Adrian, Hilpert, Brigitte & Ambros, Dieta, 2024, The remarkable record of mustelids from Hunas (Bavaria, Germany), Comptes Rendus Palevol 23 (23), pp. 339-383 : 347-348

Martes martes (Linnaeus, 1758)

( Fig. 5A, B)

Martes sp. Heller, 1983: 209. – Groiss 1983: 354; table 48. – Koenigswald & Heinrich 1999: 96. – Ambros 2006: 54; table 92. – Baumann 2011: 8. – Rosendahl, Ambros, Hilpert, Hambach, Alt, Knipping, Reisch & Kaulich 2011: 19; table 3/2.

Martes martes Rosendahl, Ambros, Hilpert, Hambach, Alt, Knipping, Reisch & Kaulich 2011: 19 ; table 3/2.

REFERRED MATERIAL. — m1, proximal epiphysis of right ulna and distal half of left metapodium .

DESCRIPTION

The right m1 belongs to a large, old specimen, with strongly abraded cusps ( Fig. 5). However, despite the wear, all features necessary for taxonomic determination are visible and morphometrical analysis is possible. The elongated m1 has a proportionally short, massive trigonid with a moderately high paraconid and prominent protoconid. The mesial margin of the trigonid is rounded, while the buccal margin is convex, and the lingual one is concave. The talonid possesses a straight lingual margin and blunt distal margin, while the buccal margin is slightly concave on the beginning and convex in the latter part. The oval metaconid is strong and well defined. The long and low talonid, with a low middle part, is broader than the trigonid. The internal talonid surface is shallow and smooth.

Together with this m1, a proximal epiphysis of a right ulna is also present. It is well preserved and belongs to an adult individual, with all sutures fused. The head is strongly curved latero-medially. The strong and short olecranon is square-shaped. Its apex is partly perforated by a small cavity surrounded by two fairly prominent tubercles. Its medial edge has a pronounced concavity. The trochlear notch for the humeral trochlea is broad and well developed and bears strongly pronounced medial expansion. The radial notch is also well marked. The lateral face is convex and has a clear interosseous border, which forms a shallow groove.

REMARKS

Morphologically, the m1 of the Hunas marten closely resembles M. martes and differs from that of M. vetus Kretzoi, 1942 and Martes foina (Erxleben, 1777) ( Fig. 5). The Hunas specimen strongly resembles m1 of M. martes in the short and low trigonid, broad and long talonid, strong metaconid and lack of the paraconid edge. This structure falls from the paraconid diagonally in a disto-lingual direction. It causes the tooth base to bulge lingually and a clear inner cavity between the metaconid and the paraconid edge is developed. The m1 of M. foina is characterised by a proportionally high and long trigonid, small metaconid, presence of well-developed paraconid edge, and short and narrow talonid, with breadth that is on average smaller than that of the trigonid ( Fig. 5).

In all these features the m1 of M. foina is so distinct from the Hunas marten that the possibility that this individual can be classified as this species is rejected. When compared to two basic indexes used to determine marten material, the Hunas specimens showed clear affiliation to M. martes . The ratio of the talonid length to the trigonid length (L ta/L tr m1) in the Hunas specimen is 61.3 and stays closer to the mean of M. martes (61.9, 55.1-72.3, n = 138) than to the mean of M. foina (L ta/L tr m1 = 39.4, 33.3-47.5, n = 112). Also, the second index, the talonid to the trigonid breadth of m1 (B ta/B tr m1) in the Hunas marten (101.7) corroborates more with the mean of M. martes (106.6, 103.2-113.7, n = 138) than the mean of M. foina (92.2, 87.5-96.3, n = 112). All metric and morphological features allowed us to determine that the m1 from Hunas is a M. martes .

The same was obtained for the proximal epiphysis of the right ulna since the shape of the proximal ulna end shows clear distinctions between M. martes and M. foina (Ambros & Hilpert 2005) . In M. martes , the medial side of the olecranon process protrudes like a hook in front, while M. foina lack this structure. Also, the supervision of the processes olecranon also allows the two to be separated. In M. martes the two knot-shaped processes are approximately extended equally in the ventral direction, sometimes also the lateral one, and the process is somewhat more extensive. In M. foina the medial node extends significantly further ventrally than the lateral (Ambros & Hilpert 2005). Both features can be easily recognised on the Hunas marten. Finally, the distal half of the metapodium was attributed to M. martes . The taxonomic attribution is unequivocally supported by its strong morphologic and morphometric affinities with the other metacarpals and metatarsals of M. martes , especially by a notably elongated and slim build. Although the described metapodium is incomplete, we can state with reasonable certainty that HHu 4525 belongs to this species. Martes martes is the only marten reported at Hunas.