Alpine marmot
The Alpine marmot is a species of marmot. It can be found in mountain regions of central and southern Europe. It is the third-largest rodent on the European continent. The Eurasian beaver and the Crested porcupine are both larger than it. Alpine marmots mature in their third year. For this reason, marmots live in family groups of up to twenty animals. Alpine marmots have been around since the ice age. Today, their range is limited to the higher mountain regions.
| Alpine marmot | |
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| Individual in Queyras regional park, France (above), and Vanoise National Park, France (below) | |
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Scientific classification 
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Genus: | Marmota |
| Species: | M. marmota
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| Binomial name | |
| Marmota marmota | |
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| Range in red | |
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Alpine Marmot Media
Reconstruction of the phylogenetic tree of Rodentia on the basis of their whole genomes
The Alpine marmot genome is characterized by remarkably low heterozygosity at the genome level, as compared to other species known for low levels of heterozygosity
Alpine Marmot Marmota marmota , skull, Coll. Museum Wiesbaden
skeleton of alpine marmot
An alpine marmot at the end of summer. Note the fattened belly.
Introduced alpine marmots in the Pyrenees
Rendered marmot fat
Drouais, François-Hubert - The Children of the Duc de Bouillon - 1756
_Marmota_marmota.jpg)
References
- ↑ Herrero, J.; Zima, J. & Coroiu, I. (2008). "Marmota marmota". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN. 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2014.