Alaska marmot

Alaska marmot
Alaska Marmot
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Marmota
Subgenus: Marmota
Species: M. broweri
Binomial name
Marmota broweri
Hall & Gilmore, 1934
Range of Marmota broweri in Alaska. Its range also extends slightly into Canada.

The Alaska Marmot (Marmota broweri) is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae. It is found in the scree slopes of the Brooks Range, Alaska, which provide some protection from predators. They eat grass, flowering plants, berries, roots, moss, and lichen. Alaska marmots have special winter dens with a single entrance that is plugged during the entire winter hibernation period. They are built on exposed ridges that thaw earlier than other areas, and the entire colony stays within the den from September until the plug melts in early May. Most marmots mate before emerging from the winter den. In areas where marmots are hunted, marmots remain quiet when approached by humans; Alaska Natives have traditionally eaten marmot meat and used marmot fur in clothing.[1] These marmots range from 21.22 to 25.67 inches in length and 5.5 to 8.8 pounds in weight.[2]

Alaska celebrates every February 2 as "Marmot Day," a holiday intended to observe the prevalence of marmots in that state and take the place of Groundhog Day.[3]

References

  1. ^ Linzey, A. V. & NatureServe (Hammerson, G. & Cannings, S.) (2008). Marmota broweri. In: IUCN 2008. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 6 January 2009.
  2. ^ http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Marmota_broweri.html
  3. ^ The Associated Press. "Alaska to celebrate its first Marmot Day," Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Feb. 1, 2010. Accessed Feb. 1, 2010.
  • Thorington, R. W. Jr. and R. S. Hoffman. 2005. Family Sciuridae. pp. 754–818 in Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.