Beech marten
Martes foina (Erxleben, 1777)
The beech marten (Martes foina), also called the Stone marten, House marten or White-breasted marten, is a mammal in the family Mustelidae, order Carnivora. It is a medium-sized, terrestrial and nocturnal carnivore with an adult body mass of 1.54 kg, up to 1.7 kg.
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Quick facts about the beech marten
Gestation lasts 30 days, litters average 3.78 young, and sexual maturity comes at 1.7 years, with reported values from 1.5 to 2 years. Its lifespan is given as 18.09 years, up to 18.2 years, and the IUCN lists it as Least Concern, not a threatened category.
- Weight
- 1.54 kg – 1.7 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 18.1 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Gestation
- 30 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 3.78src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 18 months – 2 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.05src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the beech marten
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the beech marten live?
Not recorded
What is the beech marten?
The beech marten (Martes foina), also known as the stone marten, house marten or white breasted marten, is a species of marten native to much of Europe and Central Asia, though it has established a feral population in North America. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List on account of its wide distribution, its large population, and its presence in a number of protected areas. It is superficially similar to the European pine marten, but differs from it by its smaller size and habitat preferences. While the pine marten is a forest specialist, the beech marten is a more generalist and adaptable species, occurring in a number of open and forest habitats.
From the Wikipedia article “Beech marten” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Beech_marten&oldid=1383486494), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the beech marten endangered?
The beech marten is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the beech marten classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyMustelidae
- genusMartes
- SpeciesMartes foina (Erxleben, 1777)
Synonyms Martes domestica, Martes foina altaica, Martes foina bosniaca, Martes foina bunites, Martes foina foina, Martes foina intermedia, Martes foina kozlovi, Martes foina mediterranea, Martes foina milleri, Martes foina nehringi, Martes foina rosanowi, Martes foina syriaca, Martes foina toufoeus, Martes leucolachnaea, Martes rosanowi, Mustela alba, Mustela bosniaca, Mustela domestica, Mustela foina, Mustela foina alba, Mustela foina bunites, Mustela foina nehringi, Mustela foina syriaca, Mustela intermedia, Mustela martes fagorum, Mustela mediterranea, Mustela mehringi, Mustela toufoeus
Other names and names in other languages (60)
- House martenEnglish
- Stone martenEnglish
- Stone martenEnglish
- Stone martenEnglish
- Stone marten, beech martenEnglish
- White-breasted martenEnglish
- خز الحجرArabic
- خز الزانArabic
- Fuina de papo blancoAragonese
- FhoinaAsturian
- Каменная куніцаBelarusian
- БелкаBulgarian
- FaginaCatalan
- kuna skalníCzech
- HusmårDanish
- HausmarderGerman
- SteinmarderGerman
- ΠετροκούναβοGreek
- GarduñaSpanish
- kivinugisEstonian
- LepazuriBasque
- kylänäätäFinnish
- FouineFrench
- StianelkNorthern Frisian
- StienmurdWestern Frisian
- FuíñaGalician
- דלק הסלעיםHebrew
- Kuna bjelicaCroatian
- nyestHungarian
- ՔարակզաքիսArmenian
- FainaItalian
- ムナジロテンJapanese
- Тас сусарыKazakh
- 흰담비Korean
- 바위담비Korean
- بەوەرزKurdish
- مشکەخۆرەKurdish
- SteemarderLuxembourgish
- Akmeninė kiaunėLithuanian
- akmeņu caunaLatvian
- Suusar BulgaMongolian
- FluwijnDutch
- SteenmarterDutch
- steinmårNorwegian Nynorsk
- kuna domowaPolish
- FuínaPortuguese
- FuinhaPortuguese
- Jder de piatrăRomanian
- БелодушкаRussian
- Каменная куницаRussian
- kuna skalnáSlovak
- Kuna belicaSlovenian
- ShqarthiAlbanian
- Куна белицаSerbian
- stenmårdSwedish
- บีชมาร์เทินThai
- Kır sansarıTurkish
- Kaya SansarıTurkish
- Куниця кам'янаUkrainian
- 白胸貂Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List
Relatives of the beech marten
Other species in the same genus Martes.
European pine marten
Martes martes
Sable
Martes zibellina
Yellow-throated marten
Martes flavigula
American marten
Martes americana
Nilgiri marten
Martes gwatkinsii
Yellow marten
Martes melampus
CompareBeech marten vs European pine martenBeech marten vs SableBeech marten vs Yellow-throated martenBeech marten vs American marten
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the beech marten?
The beech marten is a mammal in the family Mustelidae, order Carnivora. It is a medium-sized, nocturnal and terrestrial carnivore.
How heavy is a beech marten?
An adult Beech marten weighs 1.54 kg, with values up to 1.7 kg reported.
What does the beech marten eat?
The beech marten is a carnivore.
Is the beech marten endangered?
No. The IUCN lists the beech marten as Least Concern (LC), which is not a threatened category.
How long does a beech marten live?
The beech marten's lifespan is given as 18.09 years, with values up to 18.2 years reported.
How many young does a beech marten have?
A beech marten has 3.78 young per litter on average, with 1 litter per year, after a gestation of 30 days.
When does a beech marten reach sexual maturity?
The beech marten reaches sexual maturity at 1.7 years, with reported values from 1.5 to 2 years.
Who named the beech marten?
The beech marten, Martes foina, was named by (Erxleben, 1777).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Beech marten (Martes foina). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/beech-marten
“Beech marten (Martes foina).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/beech-marten.
@misc{beech_marten_2026,
title = {Beech marten (Martes foina)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/beech-marten},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}