Editing Marmot

{{Short description|Genus of mammals (large ground squirrels)}}
{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|Marmoset}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Marmots
| fossil_range = Late [[Miocene]] – recent
| image = 071 Wild marmot at Grand Muveran Nature Reserve Photo by Giles Laurent.jpg
| image_caption = [[Alpine marmot]] (''Marmota marmota'')
| taxon = Marmota
| authority = [[Johann Friedrich Blumenbach|Blumenbach]], 1779
| type_species = ''[[Alpine marmot|Mus marmota]]''
| type_species_authority = [[Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = 15, see [[#Subgenera and species|text]]
}}

'''Marmots''' are large [[ground squirrel]]s in the [[genus]] '''''Marmota''''', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These [[herbivore]]s are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, when they [[hibernate]] underground. They are the heaviest members of the [[squirrel]] family.<ref name=Krystufek2013>{{cite journal | author1=Kryštufek, B. | author2=B. Vohralík | year=2013 | title=Taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic rodents (Rodentia). Part 2. Sciuridae: Urocitellus, Marmota and Sciurotamias | journal=Lynx, N. S. (Praha) | volume=44 | pages=27–138 }}</ref>

==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>

==Biology==
Some species live in mountainous areas, such as the [[Alps]], northern [[Apennine Mountains|Apennines]], [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]], [[Tatra Mountains|Tatras]], and [[Pyrenees]] in Europe; northwestern Asia; the [[Rocky Mountains]], [[Black Hills]], the [[Cascade Range|Cascade]] and [[Pacific Ranges]], and the [[Sierra Nevada (U.S.)|Sierra Nevada]] in North America; and the [[Deosai National Park|Deosai Plateau]] in [[Pakistan]] and [[Ladakh]] in India. Other species prefer rough grassland and can be found widely across North America and the [[Eurasian Steppe]]. The slightly smaller and more social [[prairie dog]] is not classified in the genus ''Marmota'', but in the related genus ''Cynomys''.

Marmots typically live in [[burrow]]s (often within rockpiles, particularly in the case of the [[yellow-bellied marmot]]), and [[Hibernation|hibernate]] there through the winter.  Most marmots are highly social and use loud whistles to communicate with one another, especially when alarmed.

Marmots mainly eat greens and many types of [[Poaceae|grasses]], [[berry|berries]], [[lichen]]s, [[moss]]es, [[root]]s, and [[flower]]s.
[[File:Marmot eating.webm|thumb|Marmot eating flowers|226x226px]]

== Subgenera and species ==
The following is a list of all ''Marmota'' species recognized by Thorington and Hoffman<ref>Thorington, R. W., Jr., and R. S. Hoffman. (2005). "Family Sciuridae". ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=JgAMbNSt8ikC&q=marmot+OR+Marmota Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference]'', pp. 754–818.  D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder, eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.</ref> plus the recently defined ''M. kastschenkoi''.<ref name=forest/>  They divide marmots into two [[Subgenus|subgenera]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Subgenus
! Image
! Name
! Common Name
! Distribution
|-
! rowspan="11" style="text-align:center;"| ''Marmota''
|[[File:Marmota baibacina.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota baibacina'' 
|[[Gray marmot]] or Altai marmot
|Siberia
|-
|[[File:Сурок Гальичья сопка (5).jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota bobak'' 
|[[Bobak marmot]]
|eastern Europe to central Asia
|-
|[[File:Marmota broweri 71042866 (cropped).jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota broweri'' 
|[[Alaska marmot]], Brower's marmot, or [[Brooks Range]] marmot
|[[Alaska]]
|-
|[[File:Сурок черношапочный (камчатский).jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota camtschatica'' 
| [[Black-capped marmot]]
| eastern [[Siberia]]
|-
|[[File:Marmota caudata Kashmir.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota caudata''
|[[Long-tailed marmot]], golden marmot, or red marmot
| central Asia
|-
|[[File:Himalayan Marmot at Tshophu Lake Bhutan 091007 b.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota himalayana'' 
| [[Himalayan marmot]] or Tibetan snow pig
|the [[Himalayas]]
|-
|[[File:Marmota kastschenkoi 1488414.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota kastschenkoi'' 
|[[Forest-steppe marmot]]
|south Russia<ref name=forest>{{cite journal|title=On species status of the forest-steppe marmot ''Marmota kastschenkoi'' ([[Rodent]]ia, Marmotinae)|journal=[[Zoologičeskij žurnal]]|language=ru|year=2003|volume=82|issue=12|pages=1498–1505|last=Brandler|first=OV}}</ref>
|-
|[[File:Marmotte 2014 2015 (10).JPG|120px]]
|''Marmota marmota'' 
|[[Alpine marmot]]
|Europe only in the Alps, Carpathian Mountains, Tatra Mountains, northern Apennine Mountains, and reintroduced in the [[Pyrenees]]
|-
|
|''Marmota menzbieri'' 
|[[Menzbier's marmot]]
|central Asia
|-
|[[File:Marmota monax UL 04.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota monax''
|[[Groundhog]], woodchuck, or whistle pig
|Canada and eastern United States
|-
|[[File:Filhote-de-Marmota-Sibirica.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota sibirica'' 
|[[Tarbagan marmot]], Mongolian marmot, or ''tarvaga''
|Siberia
|-
! rowspan="4" style="text-align:center;"| ''Petromarmota''
|[[File:Hoary Marmot in Glacier National Park.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota caligata'' 
|[[Hoary marmot]]
| northwestern North America (Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Montana)
|-
|[[File:Marmota flaviventris (Yellow Bellied Marmot), Yosemite NP - Diliff.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota flaviventris'' 
|[[Yellow-bellied marmot]]
|southwestern Canada and western United States
|-
|[[File:My Friend the Marmot (4241532773) flipped.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota olympus'' 
|[[Olympic marmot]]
|endemic to the [[Olympic Peninsula]], [[Washington (state)|Washington]], United States
|-
|[[File:Marmota vancouverensis 94537857.jpg|120px]]
|''Marmota vancouverensis'' 
|[[Vancouver Island marmot]]
|endemic to [[Vancouver Island]], British Columbia, Canada
|-
|}

Some [[Extinction|extinct]] species of marmots are recognized from the fossil record, for example:

*†''Marmota arizonae'', Arizona, U.S.<ref>{{cite web | last = GBIF Secretariat  | title = ''Marmota arizonae'' GBIF Backbone Taxonomy| url = https://www.gbif.org/species/4972398 | access-date = 30 April 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.si.edu/object/nmnhpaleobiology_3427701|title = Marmota arizonae Hay}}</ref>
*†''Marmota minor'', Nevada, U.S.<ref>{{cite web | last = Paleobiology Database | title = ''Marmota minor'' | url =  https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=47901 | access-date = 30 April 2017 }}</ref>
*†''Marmota vetus'', Nebraska, U.S.<ref>{{cite web | last = GBIF Secretariat  | title = ''Marmota vetus'' GBIF Backbone Taxonomy| url = https://www.gbif.org/species/4972395 | access-date = 30 April 2017}}</ref>

==History and etymology==

[[File:Jacopo Ligozzi, A Marmot with a Branch of Plums, 1605, NGA 139309.jpg|thumb|''A Marmot with a Branch of Plums'', 1605 by [[Jacopo Ligozzi]]]]
[[File:Marmota primigenia.JPG|thumb|right|''Marmota primigenia'' fossil]]

Marmots have been known since antiquity. Research by the [[France|French]] [[Ethnology|ethnologist]] [[Michel Peissel]] claimed the story of the "[[Gold-digging ant]]" reported by the [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greek]] historian [[Herodotus]], who lived in the fifth century BCE, was founded on the golden [[Himalayan marmot]] of the Deosai Plateau and the habit of local tribes such as the [[Brokpa]] to collect the [[gold]] dust excavated from their burrows.<ref>Peissel, Michel. "The Ants' Gold: The Discovery of the Greek El Dorado in the Himalayas". Collins, 1984. {{ISBN|978-0-00-272514-9}}.</ref>
Some historians believe that [[Strabo]]'s {{Lang|el|λέων μύρμηξ}} (''léōn mýrmīx''), and [[Agatharchides]]'s {{Lang|el|μυρμηκολέων}} (''myrmīkoléōn''), most probably are the marmot.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239%3Abook%3D16%3Achapter%3D4%3Asection%3D15#note-link1 Strabo, Geography H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., Ed., 16.4.15, note 1]</ref>

An anatomically accurate image of a marmot was printed and distributed as early as 1605 by [[Jacopo Ligozzi]], who was noted for his images of flora and fauna.

The etymology of the term "marmot" is uncertain. It may have arisen from the [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gallo-Romance]] prefix ''marm-'', meaning to mumble or murmur (an example of [[onomatopoeia]]). Another possible origin is postclassical [[Latin]], {{Lang|la|mus montanus}}, meaning "mountain mouse".<ref>{{OED|Marmot}}</ref>

Beginning in 2010, Alaska celebrates February 2 as "[[Marmot Day]]", a holiday intended to observe the prevalence of marmots in that state and take the place of [[Groundhog Day]].<ref>The Associated Press. [http://www.newsminer.com/view/full_story/5722944/article-Alaska-to-celebrate-its-first-Marmot-Day-? "Alaska to Celebrate its First Marmot Day"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205172035/http://newsminer.com/view/full_story/5722944/article-Alaska-to-celebrate-its-first-Marmot-Day- |date=2010-02-05 }}, Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Feb. 1, 2010. Accessed Feb. 1, 2010.</ref>

===Relationship to the Black Death===
Some historians and paleogeneticists have postulated that the ''[[Yersinia pestis]]'' variant that caused the [[Black Death]] pandemic that struck Eurasia in the [[14th century]] originated from a variant for which marmots in China were the [[natural reservoir]] species.<ref>Smithsonian Magazine. [https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/did-black-death-rampage-across-world-more-century-previously-thought-180977331/ "Did the Black Death Rampage Across the World a Century Earlier Than Previously Thought?"], March 25, 2021. Accessed March 27, 2010.</ref><ref>The American Historical Review. [https://academic.oup.com/ahr/article-abstract/125/5/1601/6040962 "The Four Black Deaths"], December 17, 2020. Accessed March 27, 2010.</ref>
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==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://www.marmotburrow.ucla.edu/ The Marmot Burrow]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190517/http://www.cons-dev.org/marm/index.html International Marmot Network]

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[[Category:Marmots| ]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Rodents of Asia]]
[[Category:Rodents of Europe]]
[[Category:Rodents of North America]]
[[Category:Extant Miocene first appearances]]
[[Category:Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Blumenbach]]