Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genusMarmota, with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores 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.[1]
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.[2][3] Marmots are the heaviest members of the squirrel family. Total length varies typically from about 42 to 72 cm (17 to 28 in) and body mass averages about 2 kg (4+1⁄2lb) in spring in the smaller species and 8 kg (18 lb) in autumn, at times exceeding 11 kg (24 lb), in the larger species.[4][5][6] The largest and smallest species are not clearly known.[3][4] 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.[5][7][8][6] 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.[9][10] In the traditional definition of hibernation, the largest marmots are considered the largest "true hibernators" (since larger "hibernators" such as bears do not have the same physiological characteristics as obligate hibernating animals such as assorted rodents, bats and insectivores).[11][12]
Marmots typically live in burrows (often within rockpiles, particularly in the case of the yellow-bellied marmot), and hibernate there through the winter. Most marmots are highly social and use loud whistles to communicate with one another, especially when alarmed.
The following is a list of all Marmota species recognized by Thorington and Hoffman[13] plus the recently defined M. kastschenkoi.[14] They divide marmots into two subgenera.
A Marmot with a Branch of Plums, 1605 by Jacopo LigozziMarmota primigenia fossil
Marmots have been known since antiquity. Research by the FrenchethnologistMichel Peissel claimed the story of the "Gold-digging ant" reported by the 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.[19]
Some historians believe that Strabo's λέων μύρμηξ and Agatharchides's μυρμηκολέων, most probably are the marmot.[20]
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 prefix marm-, meaning to mumble or murmur (an example of onomatopoeia). Another possible origin is postclassical Latin, mus montanus, meaning "mountain mouse".[21]
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.[22]
A number of historians and paleogeneticists have postulated that the Yersinia pestis variant that caused the pandemic that struck Eurasia in the 14th century originated from a variant for which marmots in China were the natural reservoir species.[23][24]
^Kryštufek, B.; B. Vohralík (2013). "Taxonomic revision of the Palaearctic rodents (Rodentia). Part 2. Sciuridae: Urocitellus, Marmota and Sciurotamias". Lynx, N. S. (Praha). 44: 27–138.
^Armitage, KB; Wolff, JO; Sherman, PW (2007). Evolution of sociality in marmots: it begins with hibernation. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. pp. 356–367.
^ abCardini, A; O'Higgins, Paul (2004). "Patterns of morphological evolution in Marmota (Rodentia, Sciuridae): geometric morphometrics of the cranium in the context of marmot phylogeny, ecology, and conservation". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 82 (3): 385–407. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.2004.00367.x. S2CID83837961.
^ abArmitage, KB; Blumstein, DT (2002). Body-mass diversity in marmots. Holarctic marmots as a factor of biodiversity. Moscow: ABF. pp. 22–32.
^Hubbart, JA (2011). "Current Understanding of the Alaska Marmot (Marmota broweri): A Sensitive Species in a Changing Environment". Journal of Biology and Life Sciences. 2 (2): 6–13.
^ abBrandler, OV (2003). "On species status of the forest-steppe marmot Marmota kastschenkoi (Rodentia, Marmotinae)". Zoologičeskij žurnal (in Russian). 82 (12): 1498–1505.