Who and Where are we?

Who am I?

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Latin name	Marmota marmota
Common name	Marmotte alpine
Size	45-68 cm
Body mass	2.2-6.5 kg
Durée de vie	> 15 years
Sexual maturity	2 years
Litter size	1 to 7 pups
Gestation	28-32 d
Weaning	40 d
Hibernation	15 October-30 March
Description	Brown coat, with orange markings on the back, beige to orange belly. Brown muzzle, white band between muzzle and eyes, small ears. Short legs. Bushy brown tail with a black tail
Systematic	Phylum: Vertébrés Class: Mammalia Ordrer Rodentia Sub-order: Protogomorpha Super-family: Sciuroidea Family: Sciuridae Sub-family: Sciurinae Tribe: Marmotini Sub-tribe: Marmotina Genus: Marmota Species: marmota
Legal status	At the European level:Protected species (Annex III Bern Convention; Annex III Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, 82/72/CEE).At the national level: Non domestic species, belonging to the national biological heritage. Authorised game species (arrêté ministériel du 26 juin 1987 modifié pris en application de l’article L.224.1 du Code rural). Species not likely to be classified as ‘harmful’ (arrêté ministériel du 30 septembre 1988). Protection measures listed in the Code rural: Hawking, sale, selling or buying of dead specimens (R 211.1 to R211.3), digging up, trapping (R. 227.5), and transport of live specimens (L. 224.8) are forbidden. Control the capture and the transport of marmots for scientific or repopulation purposes (article 11 de l’arrêté ministériel du 1er août 1986, R. 224.14) as well as reintroductions (L 211.3). Legislation conforming with the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (82/72/CEE) and to regulation 3254/91 banning leg-hold traps in the European community, as well as agreement 98/142/CE under humane trapping standards.

Where do I live?

Currently found across the Alpine arc, in the countries of France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Slovenia (Ramousse et al. 1999). It is estimated that there are over 100,000 individuals (Le Berre 1994).

Contemporaneous distribution of the alpine marmot

In France, the marmot is found primarily in the Alps in 493 out of 1579 communities. The population has expanded considerably since 1964 (Magnani et al. 1990). Its numbers are estimated between 105 and 106 (Le Berre 1994).

Since 1948, the marmot was introduced and not reintroduced, to the Pyrenees and now occupies many areas (Herrero et al. 1988). The marmot was also introduced but with less success in the Massif Central as well as the Jura and the Vosges. This aimed to reinforce pre-existing populations and was also carried out in the pre-Alps (Beauges, Chartreuse, Chablais, Vercors).

The Alpine marmot’s habitat is usually Alpine and sub-Alpine grasslands between 800 and 3200m in altitude.

Origin

History

Proposed model of Sciuridae dispersal at the geological scale, M=Million years (from Mein 1992)

60 million years ago, the last common ancestor of all rodents appeared in Central Asia (1). During the next million years its descendants crossed over to North America (2). The opening of the Bering Strait 40 million years ago lead to the geographic isolation of Eurasia and North America and therefore the genetic isolation of species living on these different continents, particularly the rodents. This isolation lead to the appearance of the Marmotini tribe 30 million years ago. The tribe multiplied and differentiated until the appearance of the first marmots in North America, 15 million years ago (3). These first marmots would have migrated via the Bering Strait to Eurasia, 1 million years ago (4).

The genus Marmota

The genus Marmota currently comprises 14 species. Six species occupy North America and eight species live in Eurasia.

Six species occupy North America and eight species live in Eurasia.

Among the North American species you can find:

Marmota broweri or Alaska marmot
Marmota caligata or Hoary marmot
Marmota flaviventris or Yellow-bellied marmot
Marmota monax or woodchuck
Marmota olympus or Olympic marmot
Marmota vancouverensis or Vancouver Island marmot

Amongst the Eurasian marmot, you can find:

Marmota baibacina or Grey marmot
Marmota bobak orBobak marmot
Marmota camtschatica orBlack-capped marmot
Marmota caudata or Long-tailed marmot
Marmota himalayana or Himalayan marmot
Marmota marmota or Alpine marmot
Marmota menzbieri or Menzbier’s marmot
Marmota sibirica or Siberian marmot

Bibliography

Herrero J, Hidalgo R, Gonzales R. (1988) Colonization process of the alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) in Spanish Western Pyrenees. Pirineos 130, 87-94.

Kruckenhauser L, Pinsker W, Haring E, Arnold W (1999) Marmot phylogeny revisited: molecular evidence for a diphyletic origin of sociality. Journal of Zoology, Systematics and Evolutionary Research 37, 49-56.

Le Berre M (1994) Bases de la gestion des marmottes. In 2ème Journée d’Etude sur la Marmotte Alpine, Ramousse R, Le Berre M eds, 31-38.

Magnani Y, Cruveille MH, Chayron L, Collard P (1990) Entre Léman et méditerranée : Tétras, Bartavelle, Lièvre variable et marmotte. Statut territorial et évolution. Bulletin mensuel de l’Office National de la Chasse 150, 7-15.

Mein P (1992) Tassonomia. In Proceeding of the First International Symposium on Alpine Marmot and Genus Marmota. Bassano B, Durio P, Gallo Orsi, Macchi, eds, Torino, 6-12.

Ramousse R, Le Berre M, Giboulet O (1999) La Marmotte alpine. Le Courrier de l’environnement de l’INRA 36, 39-52.

Steppan S, Akhverdyan M, Lyapunova E, Fraser D, Vorontsov N (1999) Molecular phylogeny of the marmots (Rodentia: Sciuridae): Tests of evolutionary and biogeographic hypotheses. Systematic Biology 48, 715-734.