Editing Marmot (section)

==Description==
[[File:Marmotte (Montréal).jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|North American marmot, Montreal, Canada]]
Marmots are large rodents with characteristically short but robust legs, enlarged claws which are well adapted to digging, stout bodies, and large heads and incisors to quickly process a variety of vegetation. While most species are various forms of earthen-hued brown, marmots vary in fur coloration based roughly on their surroundings. Species in more open habitat are more likely to have a paler color, while those sometimes found in well-[[forested]] regions tend to be darker.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Armitage|first1=KB|last2=Wolff|first2=JO|last3=Sherman|first3=PW|year=2007|title=Evolution of sociality in marmots: it begins with hibernation|pages=356–367|location=Chicago, Illinois|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref><ref name= Cardini>{{cite journal|last1=Cardini|first1=A|last2=O'Higgins|first2=Paul|year=2004|title=Patterns of morphological evolution in Marmota (Rodentia, Sciuridae): geometric morphometrics of the cranium in the context of marmot phylogeny, ecology, and conservation|journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=82|issue=3|pages=385–407|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00367.x|s2cid=83837961|doi-access=}}</ref> Total length varies typically from about {{convert|42|to|72|cm|in|abbr=on}} and body mass averages about {{convert|2|kg|lb|frac=2|abbr=on}} in spring in the smaller species and {{convert|8|kg|lb|abbr=on}} in autumn, at times exceeding {{convert|11|kg|lb|abbr=on}}, in the larger species.<ref name= Armitage>{{cite book|last1=Armitage|first1=KB|last2=Blumstein|first2=DT|year=2002|title=Body-mass diversity in marmots. Holarctic marmots as a factor of biodiversity|publisher=ABF|location=Moscow|pages=22–32}}</ref><ref name= Edelman>{{cite journal|last=Edelman|first=AJ|year=2003|title=Marmota olympus|journal=Mammalian Species|volume=2003|issue=736|pages=1–5|doi=10.1644/736|s2cid=198129914|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Armitage, K. B. 1976">{{cite journal|last1=Armitage|first1=KB|last2=Downhower|first2=JF|last3=Svendsen|first3=GE|year=1976|title=Seasonal changes in weights of marmots|journal=American Midland Naturalist|volume=96|issue=1|pages=36–51|doi=10.2307/2424566|jstor=2424566}}</ref> The largest and smallest species are not clearly known.<ref name= Cardini/><ref name= Armitage/> In North America, on the basis of mean linear dimensions and body masses through the year, the smallest species appears to be the [[Alaska marmot]] and the largest is the [[Olympic marmot]].<ref name= Edelman/><ref>{{cite book |last=Barash |first=David P. |title=''Marmots: Social Behavior and Ecology'' |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=1989 |location=Stanford, California |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAOVkgr_eVgC |isbn=978-0-8047-1534-8 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Hubbart|first=JA|year=2011|title=Current Understanding of the Alaska Marmot (Marmota broweri): A Sensitive Species in a Changing Environment|journal=Journal of Biology and Life Sciences|volume=2|issue=2|pages=6–13}}</ref><ref name="Armitage, K. B. 1976"/> Some species, such as the [[Himalayan marmot]] and [[Tarbagan marmot]] in Asia, appear to attain roughly similar body masses to the Olympic marmot, but are not known to reach as high a total length as the Olympic species.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Murdoch|first1=JD|last2=Munkhzul|first2=T|last3=Buyandelger|first3=S|last4=Reading|first4=RP|last5=Sillero-Zubiri|first5=C|year=2009|title=The Endangered Siberian marmot Marmota sibirica as a keystone species? Observations and implications of burrow use by corsac foxes Vulpes corsac in Mongolia|journal=Oryx|volume=43|issue=3|pages=431–434|doi=10.1017/S0030605309001100|doi-broken-date=3 March 2025 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chaudhary|first1=V|last2=Tripathi|first2=RS|last3=Singh|first3=S|last4=Raghuvanshi|first4=MS|year=2017|title=Distribution and population of Himalayan Marmot Marmota himalayana (Hodgson, 1841)(Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae) in Leh-Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, India|journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa|volume=9|issue=11|pages=10886–10891|doi=10.11609/jott.3336.9.11.10886-10891|doi-access=free}}</ref> In the traditional definition of [[hibernation]], the largest marmots are considered the largest "true hibernators" (since larger "hibernators" such as [[bear]]s do not have the same physiological characteristics as [[Hibernation#Obligate hibernation|obligate hibernating]] animals such as assorted [[rodent]]s, [[bat]]s and [[Eulipotyphla|insectivores]]).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Armitage|first=KB|year=1999|title=Evolution of sociality in marmots|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|volume=80|issue=1|pages=1–10|doi=10.2307/1383202|jstor=1383202|s2cid=87325825 |doi-access=}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nedergaard|first1=J|last2=Cannon|first2=B|year=1990|title=Mammalian hibernation|journal= Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences|volume=326|issue=1237|pages=669–686|doi=10.1098/rstb.1990.0038|pmid=1969651|bibcode=1990RSPTB.326..669N|doi-access=}}</ref>