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'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 Sierra Nevada in the United States or the European Alps. 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.
Some historians suggest that marmots, rather than rats, were the primary carriers of the Bubonic plague during several historic outbreaks.[1]
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.
The writings of Marco Polo refer to the marmot as "Pharoah's rats."

Contents

Species

Examples of species

External links

Species

The following is a list of all ''Marmota'' species recognized by Wilson and Reeder, 1993 [2].

★ 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'' Nearctic

★ Hoary Marmot ''Marmota caligata'' Northwestern North America

★ Black-capped Marmot ''Marmota camtschatica'' Eastern Siberia

★ Red Marmot, Golden Marmot or Long-Tailed Marmot ''Marmota caudata'' Central Asia

★ Yellow-bellied Marmot ''Marmota flaviventris'' South western Canada, Western United States

★ Himalayan marmot or Tibetan Snow Pig ''Marmota himalayana'' Himalaya

★ Alpine Marmot ''Marmota marmota'' Central and Western European Alps, Tatra, introduced into the Pyrenees.

★ Menzbier's Marmot ''Marmota menzbieri'' Central Asia

★ Woodchuck, Groundhog, or Whistlepig ''Marmota monax'' North America

★ Olympic Marmot ''Marmota olympus'' Olympic Peninsula, Washington, USA

★ Tarvaga, Tarbagan or Mongolian Marmot ''Marmota sibirica'', Siberia

★ Vancouver Island Marmot ''Marmota vancouverensis'' Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada

Examples of species

External links

★ The Marmot Burrow

★ International Marmot Network