marmot

Any of various stocky, coarse-furred, burrowing rodents of the genus Marmota, having short legs and ears and short bushy tails and found throughout the Northern Hemisphere.

[French marmotte, from Old French, perhaps from marmotter, to mumble, probably of imitative origin.]

Several species of rodents of the genus Marmota which are members of the squirrel family, Sciuridae. These mammals are found in Europe, Asia, and North America.

One of the best-known marmots is the alpine marmot (Marmota marmota). It has a broad round head, a short furry tail, prominent eyes, and medium-sized ears; it is covered with thick, coarse, dull-colored fur. Other marmots are the red marmot (M. caudata) of Central Asia, the red-bellied marmot (M. flaviventris), ranging from New Mexico to British Columbia, and the woodchuck, or groundhog (M. monax), of North America. All species seem to prefer high altitudes except the woodchuck, which lives in woodlands and on farms. In many ways the marmots resemble the prairie dog. See also Prairie dog; Rodentia.

(click to enlarge)
Olympic marmot (Marmota olympus). (credit: E.R. Degginger)

Any of about 14 species (genus Marmota) of stout-bodied, diurnal, terrestrial squirrels found in North America, Europe, and Asia. Marmots are 12 – 24 in. (30 – 60 cm) long, excluding the short tail, and weigh 7 – 17 lbs (3 – 7.5 kg). Most species live in burrows or among boulders. They frequently sit upright and emit a whistling alarm call. Marmots live almost entirely on green plants, storing fat for hibernation. The black-and-white hoary marmot (M. caligata), of Siberia and northwestern North America, which hibernates for up to nine months, is hunted for food and fur. The yellow-bellied marmot (M. flaviventris) inhabits the western U.S. and British Columbia. See also woodchuck.

For more information on marmot, visit Britannica.com.

A member of the squirrel family Sciuridae, but heavy-set, burrowing animals, about 2 ft long and weighing 12 lb. Herbivorous and diurnal, they are remarkably agile. Red-gray in color with fine fur and a short tail. Inhabit very cold or high-altitude areas. Related to ground-hog. Called also Marmota spp., woodchuck.

For other uses, see Marmot (disambiguation).

Marmot Fossil range: Late Miocene - Recent
Yellow-bellied Marmot in Yosemite National Park
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Rodentia Family: Sciuridae Subfamily: Xerinae Tribe: Marmotini Genus: Marmota Blumenbach, 1779
Species
Marmota baibacina Marmota bobak Marmota broweri Marmota caligata Marmota camtschatica Marmota caudata Marmota flaviventris Marmota himalayana Marmota marmota Marmota menzbieri Marmota monax Marmota olympus Marmota sibirica Marmota vancouverensis

Marmots are members of the genus Marmota, in the rodent family Sciuridae (squirrels).

Marmots are generally large ground squirrels. Those most often referred to as marmots tend to live in mountainous areas such as the Alps, northern Apennines, Carpathians, Tatra, and Pyrenees in Europe, the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada in the United States, Northern Canada and Ladakh in India. However, the groundhog is also properly called a marmot, while the similarly-sized but more social prairie dog is not classified in the genus Marmota but in the related genus Cynomys.

Marmots typically live in burrows, and hibernate there through the winter. Most marmots are highly social, and use loud whistles to communicate with one another, especially when alarmed.

The name marmot comes from French marmotte, from Old French marmotan, marmontaine, from Old Franco-Provençal, from Low Latin mures montani "mountain mouse", from Latin mures monti, from Classical Latin mures alpini "Alps mouse".

Marmots mainly eat greens. They eat many types of grasses, berries, lichens, mosses, roots and flowers.

Contents 1 Species 2 Examples of species 3 References 4 External links

Species

The following is a list of all Marmota species recognized by Thorington and Hoffman (2005). They divide marmots into two subgenera.

• Genus Marmota - marmots
  • Subgenus Marmota
    • Alpine Marmot Marmota marmota found only in Europe in the Alps, northern Apennines in Italy, Carpathians, Tatra, and reintroduced in the Pyrenees.
    • Gray Marmot or Altai Marmot Marmota baibacina Siberia
    • Bobak Marmot Marmota bobak Central Europe to Central Asia
    • Alaska Marmot, Brower's Marmot or Brooks Range Marmot Marmota broweri Alaska
    • Black-capped Marmot Marmota camtschatica Eastern Siberia
    • Long-tailed Marmot, Golden Marmot or Red Marmot Marmota caudata Central Asia
    • Himalayan Marmot or Tibetan Snow Pig Marmota himalayana Himalaya
    • Menzbier's Marmot Marmota menzbieri Central Asia
    • Woodchuck, Groundhog, or Whistlepig Marmota monax North America
    • Tarbagan Marmot, Mongolian Marmot or Tarvaga Marmota sibirica, Siberia
  • Subgenus Petromarmota
    • Hoary Marmot Marmota caligata Northwestern North America
    • Yellow-bellied Marmot Marmota flaviventris South western Canada, Western United States
    • Olympic Marmot Marmota olympus Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA
    • Vancouver Island Marmot Marmota vancouverensis Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Examples of species

A Yellow-bellied Marmot near Princeton, British Columbia	Groundhog, Marmota monax	A Hoary Marmot in Mt. Rainier National Park	Alpine Marmot in the Massif des Écrins, southern France.
drawing of Bobak Marmot	Olympic Marmot	Video of adult marmot whistling in Gothic, Colorado, USA

References

• Conesa, J., Heffner, R. S. and Heffner, H. E. (1991). Hearing in large rodents: Groundhogs Marmota monax. Poster/abstract presented at the 14th midwinter meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO).
• Conesa, J., Koay, G. and Heffner, R. S. (1992). Sound localization in a large rodent, Marmota monax. Abstract in the 15th midwinter meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology (ARO).
• Thorington, R. W. Jr. and R. S. Hoffman. 2005. Family Sciuridae. Pp. 754-818 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Marmot

• The Marmot Burrow
• International Marmot Network

v • d • e Extant species of family Sciuridae (subfamily Xerinae, Marmotini (Ground squirrels) tribe) Kingdom: Animalia · Phylum: Chordata · Class: Mammalia · Order: Rodentia · Suborder: Sciuromorpha Sciurotamias Pére David's Rock Squirrel (Sciurotamias davidianus) · Forrest's Rock Squirrel (Sciurotamias forresti) Marmota (Marmots) Subgenus Marmota: Gray Marmot (Marmota baibacina) · Bobak Marmot (Marmota bobak) · Alaska Marmot (Marmota broweri) · Black-capped Marmot (Marmota camtschatica) · Long-tailed Marmot (Marmota caudata) · Himalayan Marmot (Marmota himalayana) · Alpine Marmot (Marmota marmota) · Menzbier's Marmot (Marmota menzbieri) · Groundhog (Marmota monax) · Tarbagan Marmot (Marmota sibirica) Subgenus Petromarmota: Hoary Marmot (Marmota caligata) · Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris) · Olympic Marmot (Marmota olympus) · Vancouver Island marmot (Marmota vancouverensis) Ammospermophilus (Antelope squirrels) Harris's Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus harrisii) · San Joaquin Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus nelsoni) · White-tailed Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus leucurus) · Texas Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus interpres) · Insular Antelope Squirrel (Ammospermophilus insularis) Cynomys (Prairie dogs) Gunnison's Prairie Dog (Cynomys gunnisoni) · White-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys leucurus) · Black-tailed Prairie Dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) · Mexican Prairie Dog (Cynomys mexicanus) · Utah Prairie Dog (Cynomys parvidens) Tamias (Chipmunks) Alpine Chipmunk (Tamias alpinus) · Yellow-pine Chipmunk (Tamias amoenus) · Buller's Chipmunk (Tamias bulleri) · Gray-footed Chipmunk (Tamias canipes) · Gray-collared Chipmunk (Tamias cinereicollis) · Cliff Chipmunk (Tamias dorsalis) · Durango Chipmunk (Tamias durangae) · Merriam's Chipmunk (Tamias merriami) · Least Chipmunk (Tamias minimus) · California Chipmunk (Tamias obscurus) · Yellow-cheeked Chipmunk (Tamias ochrogenys) · Palmer's Chipmunk (Tamias palmeri) · Panamint Chipmunk (Tamias panamintinus) · Long-eared Chipmunk (Tamias quadrimaculatus) · Colorado Chipmunk (Tamias quadrivittatus) · Red-tailed Chipmunk (Tamias ruficaudus) · Hopi chipmunk (Tamias rufus) · Allen's Chipmunk (Tamias senex) · Siberian Chipmunk (Tamias sibiricus) · Siskiyou Chipmunk (Tamias siskiyou) · Sonoma Chipmunk (Tamias sonomae) · Lodgepole Chipmunk (Tamias speciosus) · Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) · Townsend's Chipmunk (Tamias townsendii) · Uinta Chipmunk (Tamias umbrinus) Spermophilus Large genus listed separately Category

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - [zool.] murmeldyr

Nederlands (Dutch)
marmot

Français (French)
n. - marmotte

Deutsch (German)
n. - (Zool.) Murmeltier, (Zool.) Präriehund, (Zool.) Ziesel

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ζωολ.) αρκτόμυς ο ορεινός, μαρμότα

Italiano (Italian)
marmotta

Português (Portuguese)
n. - marmota (f)

Русский (Russian)
сурок

Español (Spanish)
n. - marmota, dormilón

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - murmeldjur

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
土拨鼠

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 土撥鼠

한국어 (Korean)
n. - (쥐의 일종) 마멋

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - マーモット

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) المرموط حيوان من القوارض‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מרמוטה (מכרסם)‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.

To select your translation preferences click here.