Martes caurina
Silhouette: Margot Michaud · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
The Pacific marten (Martes caurina) is a species of North American mammal, a member of the family Mustelidae. It is found throughout western North America. The species was formerly considered conspecific with the American marten (M. americana), but several studies using molecular genetics indicate that M. caurina is a distinct species from it, and it has since been recognized as such by the American Society of Mammalogists. The two species also have some morphological differences, with M. caurina having a shorter rostrum and a broader cranial shape. The two species are thought to have diverged during the Last Glacial Maximum after being isolated from one another in glacial refugia.
Seven subspecies have been recognized based on fossil history, cranial analysis, and mitochondrial DNA analysis. None of the subspecies are separable based on morphology, and subspecies taxonomy is usually ignored except with regards to conservation issues centered around subspecies rather than ranges.
Martes caurina subspecies group: M. c. caurina (Merriam) - western British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon; M. c. humboldtensis (Grinnell and Dixon) - northwestern California... Wikipedia →
Recording1:12
Canada · 2026
davidbroadland · iNaturalist · CC0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grand Teton National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Great Bear Rainforest | 🇨🇦 Canada | |
| 4 | Yellowstone National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Northwest Trek Wildlife Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Marten sighting in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, based on 10 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 20th most-seen of the 20 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Pacific Marten in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks on a given day, against under 5% in June, September and December–April, the lowest months. That is one of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain against 190 mm in January.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pacific Marten sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
5th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Pacific Marten sightings, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks ranks 5th at about 10%. The best odds are in Grand Teton National Park (United States, about 20%), Rocky Mountain National Park (United States, about 10%) and Great Bear Rainforest (Canada, about 10%).
Same order: Carnivora
The closest relatives of the Pacific Marten that you can see in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (order Carnivora, Carnivorans) are American Black Bear (about 80%), Coyote (about 20%) and Bobcat (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pacific Marten is recorded against all the mammals logged in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (10 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
