The groundhog, also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the Eastern United States, across Canada and into Alaska. It was given its scientific name as Mus monax by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, based on a description of the animal by George Edwards, published in 1743.
Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus Marmota, 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.
The hoary marmot is a species of marmot that inhabits the mountains of northwest North America. Hoary marmots live near the tree line on slopes with grasses and forbs to eat and rocky areas for cover.
The Vancouver Island marmot is a species of marmot endemic to Vancouver Island, in British Columbia. It is one of only five land mammals endemic to Canada.
The yellow-bellied marmot, also known as the rock chuck, is a large, stout-bodied ground squirrel in the marmot genus. It is one of fourteen species of marmots, and is native to mountainous and semi-arid regions of southwestern Canada and western United States, including the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and the Great Basin, often living above 2,000 metres. The fur is mainly brown, with a dark bushy tail, yellow chest and white patch between the eyes, and they weigh up to approximately 5 kilograms. They live in burrows in colonies of up to twenty individuals with a single dominant male. They are diurnal and feed on plant material, insects, and bird eggs. They hibernate for approximately eight months starting in September and lasting through the winter.
The alpine marmot is a large ground-dwelling squirrel, from the genus of marmots. It is found in high numbers in mountainous areas of central and southern Europe, at heights between 800 and 3,200 m (2,600–10,500 ft) in the Alps, Carpathians, Tatras and Northern Apennines. In 1948 they were reintroduced with success in the Pyrenees, where the alpine marmot had disappeared at end of the Pleistocene epoch.
The Olympic marmot is a rodent in the squirrel family, Sciuridae. It occurs only in the U.S. state of Washington, at the middle elevations of the Olympic Peninsula. The closest relatives of this species are the hoary marmot and the Vancouver Island marmot. In 2009, it was declared the official endemic mammal of Washington state.
The Himalayan marmot is a marmot species that inhabits alpine grasslands throughout the Himalayas and on the Tibetan Plateau. It is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern because of its wide range and possibly large population.
The long-tailed marmot or golden marmot is a marmot species in the family Sciuridae. It occurs in mountainous regions in the central parts of Asia where it lives in open or lightly wooded habitats, often among rocks where dwarf junipers grow. It is IUCN Red Listed as Least Concern. As suggested by its name, it is a relatively long-tailed species of marmot.
The great jerboa is a species of rodent in the family Dipodidae. It is found in Kazakhstan, Russia, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. It mainly lives in deserts.
The gray marmot, grey marmot, or Altai marmot is a species of rodent in the squirrel family Sciuridae. It is one of the larger marmots in the genus Marmota. It occurs in mountainous grasslands and shrub lands of central Asia, and is one of the 9 Palearctic (Eurasia) species. It is found in Xinjiang Province in China, southeastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and in the Altai and Tien Shan Mountains in southeastern Siberia in Russia. In the Mongolian Altai, its range overlaps with that of the Tarbagan marmot. Gray marmots form social groups, live in burrows, and hibernate.
The Alaska marmot, also known as the Brooks Range marmot or the Brower's marmot, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. Once considered to be the same species as the hoary marmot, it is now known to be unique. Alaska marmots are found in the scree slopes of the Brooks Range, Alaska. Specifically, they prefer to dwell on rocky, mountainous terrain, generally near lakes. They eat vegetation found on mountainsides, such as grasses, seeds, and lichen. Their relatively thick bodies are covered in dense, grey fur. They live in large colonies that consist of multiple families. During the winter, they hibernate for long periods of time in burrows. While not well researched, they are not believed to be particularly threatened, by human activity or otherwise. The Alaskan government has designated February 2 as "Marmot Day," a holiday intended to recognize the prevalence of marmots in the state, similar to the more widely celebrated American holiday of Groundhog Day.
The black-capped marmot is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is endemic to the Russian Far East, but its range is discontinuous and divided into three main parts, each with its own subspecies. The black-capped marmot lives in arctic tundra and alpine habitats from near sea-level to an altitude of 2,000 m (6,600 ft). Depending on exact subpopulation, they hibernate for 6–8 months each year, which is long for a marmot.
The Menzbier's marmot is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae from Central Asia. Its name commemorates Russian zoologist Mikhail Aleksandrovich Menzbier.
The tarbagan marmot is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in China, northern and western Mongolia, and Russia. In the Mongolian Altai Mountains, its range overlaps with that of the Gray marmot. The species was classified as endangered by the IUCN in 2008.
The little ground squirrel or little souslik, is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.
The forest-steppe marmot is a rodent species of the marmot genus found in south-central Russia. It lives in wooded forest steppe at an altitude of 180–450 m (590–1,480 ft) in a relatively small region located directly east of the upper Ob River. It has traditionally been considered a subspecies of the similar, more southerly distributed gray marmot, but was separated mainly due to different diploid numbers.
The Altai montane forest and forest steppe ecoregion covers patches of the subalpine forest belt on the Altai Mountains, crossing the border region where Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China meet. The region has high biodiversity, as it is located in transition zones between different ecoregions, altitudes, and climate zones. It is in the Palearctic realm, with a Cold semi-arid climate. It covers 35,199,998 km2 (13,590,795 sq mi).
The Tatra marmot is an endemic subspecies of marmot found in the Tatra Mountains. In the past, it was a game animal, but in the 19th century, its population drastically declined. It is a herbivore active in the summer, living in territorial family clans in the mountains from the upper montane to the alpine zone. It is one of the rarest vertebrates in Poland and is subject to strict legal protection. It is also legally protected in Slovakia. The Red List of Threatened Animals in Poland and the Polish Red Book of Animals classify the Tatra marmot as a strongly endangered subspecies (EN), while the Red List for the Carpathians in Poland designates it as "CR" – critically endangered. It is a relatively poorly researched animal.
Spermophilus citelloides, sometimes called the Pannonian souslik, is an extinct species of ground squirrel in the squirrel family (Sciuridae). It was distributed in Central and Eastern Europe from the middle Pleistocene (Holsteinian) to the early Holocene. A 2019 study recovered it as most closely related to the speckled ground squirrel.
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