Marmots
Marmots Elsewhere
The alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) occurs in the Alps of northern Italy, southeastern France, and Switzerland. The habitat of this species is alpine tundra and meadows, where it lives in rock piles and in burrows. This species is subjected to a sport hunt, the male animals being referred to as bears, and the females as cats. The meat of these marmots is eaten, and their fat is a highly regarded folk medicine in some parts of its European range.
The bobak marmot (M. bobak) occurs rather widely in high-altitude grasslands and alpine tundra of the Himalayan Mountains of central Asia. This species is hunted as food and for its fat throughout much of its range. The long-tailed marmot (M. caudata) occurs in a restricted, alpine range in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Resources
Books
Banfield, A.W.F. The Mammals of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1974.
Barash, D. Marmots. Social Behavior and Ecology. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1989.
Hall, E.R. The Mammals of North America. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley & Sons, 1981.
Nowak, R.M. ed. Walker's Mammals of the World. 5th ed. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1991.
Wilson, D.E. and D. Reeder, comp. Mammal Species of the World. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993.
Bill Freedman
Additional topics
Science EncyclopediaScience & Philosophy: Macrofauna to MathematicsMarmots - North American Marmots, Marmots Elsewhere