The Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) is a large ground-dwelling squirrel that lives in mountainous areas of central and southern Europe, in the Alps, Carpathians, Tatras and Northern Apennines. In 1948 they were reintroduced with success in the Pyrenees, where Alpine marmots had disappeared at the end of the Pleistocene epoch.
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DiurnalDiurnal animals are active during the daytime, with a period of sleeping or other inactivity at night. The timing of activity by an animal depends ...
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HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
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FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
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AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
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BurrowingA burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to create a space suitable for habitation, temporary refuge, or as a byproduct ...
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CongregatoryCongregatory animals tend to gather in large numbers in specific areas as breeding colonies, for feeding, or for resting.
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ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
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MonogamyMonogamy is a form of relationship in which both the male and the female has only one partner. This pair may cohabitate in an area or territory for...
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HibernatingHibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy charac...
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starts withAlpine marmots have plump and sturdy bodies, with their body mass changing drastically from one season to another. Their fur color ranges from a mixture of blond, reddish, and dark gray. While most of the Alpine marmot's fingers have claws, its thumbs have nails. These animals are excellent diggers and can penetrate soil that is hard to work with a pickaxe.
Alpine marmots occur in central as well as southern Europe, living in the Alps, Carpathians, the Pyrenees, Tatras, and the northern Apennines in Italy. Their habitat is typically sub-alpine and alpine meadows and pastures of 800 to 3,200m in altitude, where they live in colonies in rocky areas in alluvial soil in deep burrow systems.
Alpine marmots are diurnal and live within family groups of a pair of parents with usually 10-20 offspring. Young marmots are very playful, and individuals of all ages care for one another by grooming, and participate in nose to nose greetings. Alpine marmots are friendly with their family members but are hostile towards strangers entering their territory. Females are particularly ferocious when guarding their territory, which they mark by smearing secretions from cheek glands onto trees and rocks. Their underground burrows are passed down through the generations of one family. The burrows have 8-10ft tunnels leading to a large room called a den, which is where, in the winter, the whole family hibernates. Around October, they enter the burrow and close up the entrance with grass and hay. Once every 10 or so days they wake up for a brief period, which brings their temperature up and prevents them from freezing.
Alpine marmots are herbivores and eat mostly blossoms and leaves. Sometimes they eat grain, worms, insects, and spiders.
Alpine marmots are usually monogamous, mating with the same partner more than once. Within one family group, the dominant pair is the only one that regularly mates and produces young, the dominant pair suppressing the reproductive functions of any subordinate animals. These marmots mate a few days after coming out of hibernation, in May. They do not necessarily reproduce each year, this depending on the dominant female’s weight after hibernation. Gestation is for about 34 days. Litters can number 1 to 7. The hair of the young starts to grow from when they are 5 days old and their eyes open when they are about 23 days old. The mother keeps the young hidden in burrows and they do not exit until after weaning, when they are about 40 days old. Alpine marmots reach maturity at about 2 years old.
Eagles, foxes, and humans are the main threats to the Alpine marmots. They could become endangered due to extensive hunting. In Switzerland and Austria alone, 6,000 of these animals are killed every year as trophies. There is a very small population in Rodna (Transylvania, Romania) and it is threatened by poaching. Populations in Austria which live below the timberline are under threat by the loss of open habitats due to abandonment of cattle grazing at high altitudes. There are two subspecies of Alpine marmots, and hybridization with introduced subspecies is a threat to remaining pure-bred groups in the High Tatras of the Alps.
According to the Alpine marmot project resource, it is estimated that the total population size of these animals is over 100,000 individuals. According to the IUCN Red List, 1, 500 individuals occur in Romanian Carpathians. Overall, Alpine marmots’ are abundant in at least parts of its core range in the Alps, their numbers are stable today and they are classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.
Social animals are those animals that interact highly with other animals, usually of their own species (conspecifics), to the point of having a rec...