Editing Groundhog (section)

{{Short description|Species of rodent}}
{{Redirect|Woodchuck|other uses|Groundhog (disambiguation)|and|Woodchuck (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Whistle Pig|the whiskey distillery|WhistlePig}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Groundhog
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn|author=Cassola, F.|name-list-style=amp|year=2016|errata=2017|title=''Marmota monax''|page=e.T42458A115189992|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T42458A22257685.en|access-date=19 February 2022}}</ref>
| image = Marmota monax UL 04.jpg
| image_caption = Groundhog at [[Laval University]] campus, [[Quebec]], Canada
| genus = Marmota
| species = monax
| authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]])
| synonyms = ''Mus monax'' {{small|Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758}}<br />
''Arctomys monax'' {{small|(Linnaeus,&nbsp;1758)}}
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| subdivision = * ''M. m. monax'' <small>Linnaeus, 1758</small>
* ''M. m. canadensis'' <small>[[Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben|Erxleben]], 1777</small>
* ''M. m. ignava'' <small>[[Outram Bangs|Bangs]], 1899</small>
* ''M. m. rufescens'' <small>[[Arthur Holmes Howell|A. H. Howell]], 1914</small>
| range_map = Marmota monax map.svg
| range_map_caption = Groundhog range in North America
}}

The '''groundhog''' ('''''Marmota monax'''''), also known as the '''woodchuck''', is a [[rodent]] of the family [[Sciuridae]], belonging to the group of large [[ground squirrel]]s known as [[marmot]]s.<ref name = MSW3>{{MSW3 Sciuridae | id = 12400961 | page = 802}}</ref> 
A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the [[Eastern United States]], across [[Canada]] and into [[Alaska]].<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History|work=North American Mammals|title=Marmota monax, Woodchuck|url=https://naturalhistory.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=146|access-date=February 20, 2018|archive-date=March 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325073744/https://naturalhistory.si.edu/mna/image_info.cfm?species_id=146|url-status=live}}</ref> 
It was given its scientific name as ''Mus monax'' by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in 1758,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726959|title=Systema naturae|last=Linnaeus|first=Carl|year=1758|edition=10|volume=1|pages=60|publisher=Lars Salvius|via=Biodiversity Heritage Library|access-date=January 29, 2018|archive-date=March 8, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308080134/https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726959|url-status=live}}</ref> based on a description of the animal by [[George Edwards (naturalist)|George Edwards]], published in 1743.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50240862|title=A natural history of birds|last=Edwards|first=George|year=1743|edition=|volume=1|pages=104|via=Biodiversity Heritage Library|access-date=December 11, 2024}}</ref>

The groundhog is an important contributor to the maintenance of healthy soil in [[woodland]]s and [[plain]]s; as such, the species is considered a crucial [[habitat engineer]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00170606|title=Social organization of woodchucks (Marmota monax)|first=Paul T.|last=Meier|date=December 1, 1992|journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology|volume=31|issue=6|pages=393–400|via=Springer Link|doi=10.1007/BF00170606|bibcode=1992BEcoS..31..393M |s2cid=44244749|access-date=May 18, 2021|archive-date=May 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510213201/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00170606|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-020-01056-5|title=The effects of red fox scent on winter activity patterns of suburban wildlife: evaluating predator-prey interactions and the importance of groundhog burrows in promoting biodiversity|first1=Jeremy D.|last1=Pustilnik|first2=Jeremy B.|last2=Searle|first3=Paul D.|last3=Curtis|journal=[[Urban Ecosystems]]|year=2021|volume=24|issue=3|pages=529–547|via=Springer Link|doi=10.1007/s11252-020-01056-5|bibcode=2021UrbEc..24..529P |s2cid=224867974|access-date=May 18, 2021|archive-date=May 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510213201/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-020-01056-5|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Functional specialization in the forelimbs of two digging mammals: the American badger (Taxidea taxus) and groundhog (Marmota monax)|first1=Alexis Lee|last1=Moore|first2=Michael|last2=Butcher|date=May 18, 2011|journal=The FASEB Journal|volume=25|issue=S1|pages=867.12|doi=10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.867.12|s2cid=87167021 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The groundhog is an extremely [[intelligent]] animal, forming complex [[social networks]] and [[kinship]] with its young; it is capable of understanding [[social behavior]], [[Communication|communicating]] threats through [[whistling]], and working [[cooperatively]] to accomplish tasks such as [[burrowing]].<ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/40295409.pdf|jstor=40295409|title=Genetic Relatedness and Space Use in a Behaviorally Flexible Species of Marmot, the Woodchuck (Marmota monax)|last=Maher|first=Christine R.|journal=Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology|year=2009|volume=63|issue=6|pages=857–868|doi=10.1007/s00265-009-0726-5|bibcode=2009BEcoS..63..857M |s2cid=20892108|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=May 10, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220510213201/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40295409|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://blumsteinlab.eeb.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/104/2017/08/DanielBlumstein1998_AB.pdf|title=A test of the acoustic adaptation hypothesis in four species of marmots|first1=Janice C.|last1=Daniel|first2=Daniel T.|last2=Blumstein|journal=Animal Behaviour|year=1998|volume=56|issue=6|pages=1517–1528|location=Department of Systematics and Ecology, [[University of Kansas]]|publisher=The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour|doi=10.1006/anbe.1998.0929|pmid=9933550|s2cid=37133587|access-date=May 29, 2021|archive-date=June 2, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210602212601/https://blumsteinlab.eeb.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/104/2017/08/DanielBlumstein1998_AB.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>