Yellow-throated marten

's Fauna of British India|left The yellow-throated marten has short bright brownish-yellow fur, a blackish brown pointed head, reddish cheeks, light brown chin and lower lips; the chest and lower part of the throat are orange-golden, and flanks and belly are bright yellowish. The back of the ears is black, the inner portions are yellowish grey. The front paws, lower forelimbs are black. The tail is black above with a greyish brown base and a lighter tip. It is robust and muscular, has an elongated thorax, a long neck and a long tail, which is about 2/3 as long as its body. The limbs are relatively short and strong, with broad paws. The ears are large and broad with rounded tips. The soles of the feet are covered with coarse, flexible hairs, though the digital and foot pads are naked and the paws are weakly furred. The anal glands sport two unusual protuberances, which secrete a strong smelling liquid for defensive purposes. ==Distribution and habitat==

, India The yellow-throated marten occurs in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in the Himalayas of India, Nepal and Bhutan, continental southern China and Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula and eastern Russia. In the south, its range extends to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. In Nepal's Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, it has been recorded up to an elevation of in alpine meadow. In northeastern India, it has been reported in northern West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam. In Indonesia it occurs in Borneo, Sumatra, and Java. ==Behaviour and ecology==

The yellow-throated marten holds extensive, but not permanent, home ranges. It actively patrols its territory, having been known to cover in a single day and night. It primarily hunts on the ground, but can climb trees proficiently, being capable of making jumps up to between branches. After March snowfalls, the yellow-throated marten restricts its activities to treetops. Diet The yellow-throated marten is a diurnal hunter, which usually hunts in pairs, but may also hunt in packs of three or more. It preys on rats, mice, hares, snakes, lizards, eggs and ground nesting birds such as pheasants and francolins. It is reported to kill cats and poultry. It has been known to feed on human corpses, and was once thought to be able to attack an unarmed man in groups of three to four. It preys on small ungulates and smaller marten species, such as sables. In the Himalayas and Myanmar, it is reported to frequently kill muntjac fawns, In China, it preys on giant panda cubs. It supplements its diet with nectar and fruit, and is therefore considered to be an important seed disperser. Reproduction Estrus occurs twice a year, from mid-February to late March and from late June to early August. During these periods, the males fight each other for access to females. Litters typically consist of two or three kits and rarely four. A mountain hawk-eagle (Nisaetus nipalensis) killed an adult yellow-throated marten. == Conservation ==

The yellow-throated marten is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List due to its wide distribution and occurrence in protected areas across its range; the global population is stable, and threats are apparently lacking. ==Taxonomy==

The first written description of the yellow-throated marten in the Western World is given by Thomas Pennant in his History of Quadrupeds (1781), in which he named it "White-cheeked Weasel". Pieter Boddaert featured it in his Elenchus Animalium with the name Mustela flavigula. For a long period after the Elenchus' publication, the existence of the yellow-throated marten was considered doubtful by many zoologists, until a skin was presented to the Museum of the East India Company in 1824 by Thomas Hardwicke. Subspecies , nine subspecies are recognized. ==References==