I got completely confused about classification of wild life in north america. Being sure that sable exist only in russia i was surprised to find Canadian sable. I found that there are only two kinds of martises in north america: martes american and martes pennanti(fisher). So what is Canadian sable. Please help me to sort it out.
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Martes martes = european pine marten
Martes americana = american sable, canadian sable, hudson bay sable / pine marten
Martes zibellina = russian sable
Those 3 get the fur world confused a lot, too.
In fact I used to think americana = martes for ages! whoops. Turns out the Martes martes I'd been looking at [and had been selling!], were imported garments or skins.
The reason they call Martes americana "sable" is to tie it to zibellina and make it's value more. Which is pretty wise. Martes martes and martes zibellina are much more similar, though. Americana has the flattest fur of all 3 types. Zibellina has the best fur of the 3 but Martes martes is not far behind it if at all.
Chief differences are in dentition, skull length, tail length, prey / diet, and body weight. Throat patch markings are NOT one of the differences.
If you're looking for SABLE you have to buy zibellina. If you're looking for MARTEN, you can buy anything else. If you're looking for FISHER (Pekan is the French name), you buy Martes pennanti.