Marmota flaviventrisyellow-bellied marmot

Ge­o­graphic Range

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots are dis­trib­uted widely in the west­ern United States and Canada. They range as far north as south­cen­tral British Co­lum­bia and Al­berta in Canada and as far south as the Sierra Nevada. (Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980)

Habi­tat

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots gen­er­ally live in mod­er­ately warm, dry habi­tats at low to mid el­e­va­tions. They are found in many dif­fer­ent habi­tats, in­clud­ing semi-desert, wood­land and for­est open­ings, and the alpine zone. Those that live fur­ther south live at higher el­e­va­tions. For ex­am­ple, in the White Moun­tains of Cal­i­for­nia they are found only above 2000 m. More­over, be­cause of ab­sence from val­leys, south­ern pop­u­la­tions are iso­lated from one other, form­ing iso­lated pop­u­la­tions. In ad­di­tion, con­geners may af­fect their dis­tri­b­u­tion. It can be in­ferred that the pres­ence of hoary mar­mots in­hibit the dis­tri­b­u­tion of yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots in cer­tain high el­e­va­tion areas, as both oc­cupy sub­alpine and alpine areas. Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots in­habit veg­e­tated for­ti­fied slopes or rock out­crops in mead­ows, which serve as sup­port for the bur­rows that they re­side in, as well as sun­ning and ob­ser­va­tion posts. The main en­trance of bur­row, which they dig them­selves, is usu­ally about 0.6 m deep into the ground, and ex­tends about 3.8 to 4.4 m hor­i­zon­tally into the hill­side. Many short tun­nels branch from main pas­sage­way, some­times con­nect­ing to other bur­rows. Bur­rows stay rel­a­tively sta­ble and thus serve as prefer­able places to raise young, hi­ber­nate, and hide from po­ten­tial preda­tors. Bur­row avail­abil­ity may af­fect mar­mot dis­tri­b­u­tion, as well as vis­i­bil­ity and safety from preda­tors. Most yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots occur around 2000 m in el­e­va­tion. (Blum­stein, et al., 2006; Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980)

  • Average elevation
    2000 m
    6561.68 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots are a small to medium-sized ro­dents. Males weigh from 2.95 to 5.22 kg, with an av­er­age of 3.9 kg. Fe­males range in mass from 1.59 to 3.57 kg, with an av­er­age of 2.8 kg. Total length ranges from 470 to 700 mm, with tail length rang­ing from 130 to 220 mm. Hind-foot length from 70 to 90 mm, and condy­lobasal length ranges from 68.0 to 99.8 mm. Males are longer than fe­males and weigh sig­nif­i­cantly more. Also, in­di­vid­u­als from low, arid-land habi­tats tend to be smaller than those from mesic, mon­tane habi­tats. They have ro­bust bod­ies, with short and broad heads. The head has a nar­row in­teror­bital re­gion, with tem­po­ral ridges brought join­ing to form a low, short, sagit­tal crest. The pos­te­rior end of the palate lies ob­tusely, and the teeth of the upper jaw lie slightly more an­te­rior than the teeth of the bot­tom jaw. The den­tal for­mula is 1/1, 0/0, 2/1, 3/3 = 22. The cheek teeth are high-crowned. Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots have small, well-furred ears, feet with five dig­its and an oval pad in the cen­ter of the sole of the hind foot, short and slightly curved claws with a rudi­men­tary nail-bear­ing thumb, and ten mam­mae – two pec­toral, two ab­dom­i­nal, and one in­guinal pair. (Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980)

The un­der­fur of yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots is soft, dense, and wooly on the back and sides of the body. Longer, coarse outer guard hairs with lighter tips and darker bases cover the en­tire body, mak­ing the over­all color yel­low-brown to tawny. In­di­vid­u­als are rarely dark brown and never black, ex­cept in melanis­tic in­di­vid­u­als (com­mon in pop­u­la­tions in south­ern Rocky Moun­tains). There are also no­tice­able buffy yel­low­ish patches on the side of the neck, white spots be­tween the eyes, and a yel­low or or­ange-rus­set color cov­er­ing the belly, with feet a buffy, hazel, or dark brown color. There is great va­ri­ety in color within sub­species. Yel­low-be­lied mar­mots molt once an­nu­ally dur­ing sum­mer. (Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980)

  • Sexual Dimorphism
  • male larger
  • Range mass
    1.59 to 5.22 kg
    3.50 to 11.50 lb
  • Average mass
    3.35 kg
    7.38 lb
  • Range length
    470 to 700 mm
    18.50 to 27.56 in
  • Average basal metabolic rate
    8.626 W
    AnAge

Re­pro­duc­tion

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots are most often clas­si­fied as polyg­y­nous. They can live as mem­bers of a colony, or as sin­gle or paired an­i­mals. About 75% of in­di­vid­u­als live in colonies, 16% in “satel­lite sites”, and 7% in tem­po­rary sites. Satel­lite sites are sec­ondary habi­tats con­sist­ing of only a few bur­rows. Those in colonies are mem­bers of harems, groups con­sist­ing of adult males, and fe­males and their off­spring. All males and about 40% of fe­males are re­cruited from out­side the colony. Re­pro­duc­tive rates at “satel­lite sites” are lower than in colonies and have more size fluc­tu­a­tion and shorter res­i­den­cies than colonies and tem­po­rary/tran­sient sites. (Blum­stein, et al., 2004; Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980; Wey and Blum­stein, 2010)

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots reach re­pro­duc­tive ma­tu­rity by two years of age. Hence, no fe­male year­lings pro­duce off­spring. Only 25% of two-year old fe­males pro­duce a lit­ter. The testes of adult males are en­larged for sev­eral weeks when they awake from win­ter hi­ber­na­tion and then even­tu­ally regress to be­come the same size as ju­ve­niles. There is one breed­ing sea­son per year, which starts and is con­cen­trated in the first two weeks after they awake from win­ter hi­ber­na­tion. Ges­ta­tion lasts for ap­prox­i­mately 30 days, and lit­ter sizes range from 3 to 8 pups, with an av­er­age of 4.32 pups. Adult fe­males have an av­er­age cor­pus lu­teum count of 4.7. New­born pups are 111 mm in length and weigh 33.8 g on av­er­age. (Blum­stein, et al., 2004; Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980; Wey and Blum­stein, 2010)

  • Breeding interval
    Yellow-bellied breed once yearly.
  • Breeding season
    Most populations of yellow-bellied marmots breed during May and June.
  • Range number of offspring
    3 to 8
  • Average number of offspring
    4.32
  • Average number of offspring
    4
    AnAge
  • Average gestation period
    30 days
  • Average gestation period
    30 days
    AnAge
  • Average weaning age
    7 weeks
  • Average time to independence
    7 weeks
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    2 years
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    Sex: female
    730 days
    AnAge
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    2 years
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    Sex: male
    730 days
    AnAge

There is lit­tle in­for­ma­tion avail­able re­gard­ing parental care in yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots. Moth­ers nurse pups for about 3 weeks, at which time pups emerge from the bur­row. Parental care de­creases sub­stan­tially once pups emerge; how­ever, strong so­cial bonds re­main for an ex­tended pe­riod, es­pe­cially in colo­nial pop­u­la­tions. (Blum­stein, et al., 2004; Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980; Wey and Blum­stein, 2010)

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Most yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots live for 13 to 15 years in the wild. Pre­da­tion, which ac­counts for 98% of sum­mer mor­tal­ity sig­nif­i­cantly lim­its the av­er­age lifes­pan of this species. A sig­nif­i­cant num­ber of deaths occur dur­ing hi­ber­na­tion and em­i­gra­tion. Re­cently, syl­vatic plague, caused by the bac­terium Yersinia pestis, has had a sig­nif­i­cant im­pact on pop­u­la­tions in Cal­i­for­nia. (Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980)

  • Range lifespan
    Status: wild
    13 to 15 years

Be­hav­ior

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots nor­mally ap­pear from bur­rows soon after sun­rise, defe­cate, and spend time groom­ing and sun­ning. They for­age by mid-morn­ing, fol­lowed by sun­ning, groom­ing, and long in­ter­vals in the bur­row. They feed again by late af­ter­noon. Most time spent above-ground in­volves sun­ning with head in an alert po­si­tion. So­cial in­ter­ac­tions that have been ob­served are ei­ther am­i­ca­ble or ag­o­nis­tic. Am­i­ca­ble be­hav­ior in­cludes play, groom­ing, and greet­ing be­hav­ior. Play oc­curs often be­tween young, young and adults, and be­tween year­lings, and may help in­di­vid­u­als to so­cially in­te­grate. Fur­ther­more, groom­ing may sug­gest a dom­i­nant-sub­or­di­nate role. Ag­o­nis­tic be­hav­ior in­cludes groom­ing, so­cial mount­ing, alert be­hav­ior, chas­ing, and fight­ing. In­ter­ac­tions be­tween those of the same bur­row are am­i­ca­ble, while ag­o­nis­tic in­ter­ac­tions hap­pen in those of dif­fer­ent bur­rows. Rates of am­i­ca­ble be­hav­ior are also re­lated to length of time the in­di­vid­u­als live to­gether - am­i­ca­ble be­hav­ior in­creases when all in­di­vid­u­als have lived in the same bur­row for longer than a year. In ad­di­tion, ter­ri­to­r­ial males are more hos­tile to­wards male year­lings and adults. Ter­ri­to­r­ial be­hav­ior in­cludes tail flag­ging, and mark­ing habi­tat with anal glands. All males and most fe­males leave the colony one year after birth. Fe­male ag­gres­sive be­hav­ior to­wards lit­ters is partly re­spon­si­ble for dis­per­sal. Ag­o­nis­tic be­hav­ior by the male af­fects the leav­ing of male year­lings, but is not the pri­mary cause of dis­per­sal. Dis­per­sal of year­lings may be de­layed if there are a lot of year­lings, if they are un­der­weight, and if there are high lev­els of am­i­ca­ble be­hav­ior be­tween year­lings and adults. (Blum­stein, et al., 2004; Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980; Wey and Blum­stein, 2010)

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots spend about 80% of their lives in bur­rows due to win­ter hi­ber­na­tion. Hi­ber­na­tion lasts about eight months and oc­curs from early Sep­tem­ber to May, but may vary from year to year. Of the time spent un­der­ground, 60% is al­lo­cated to hi­ber­na­tion. Young mar­mots lose 50% of their body weight hi­ber­nat­ing, thus reach­ing the thresh­old weight is im­por­tant by fall. Hi­ber­na­tion is a cause of great mor­tal­ity rates of all age groups of yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots. Of the 14 species of M. mar­mota, only two (Mar­mota monax and M. fla­viven­tris), are not so­cial hi­ber­na­tors. Only the young of M. fla­viven­tris have been re­ported to hi­ber­nate so­cially. (Blum­stein, et al., 2004; Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980; Wey and Blum­stein, 2010)

Home Range

There is no in­for­ma­tion avail­able re­gard­ing the av­er­age home range of yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots.

Sci­en­tists don't know the size of the area where yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots usu­ally live and travel.

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion be­tween yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots is mostly au­di­tory and vi­sual. There are three main vo­cal­iza­tions: the whis­tle, the un­du­lat­ing scream, and the tooth chat­ter. Six dif­fer­ent whis­tles are rec­og­nized and may have more than one func­tion, such as alert­ing and threat­en­ing. Screams usu­ally re­spond to ex­cite­ment or fear, and tooth chat­ter­ing is used as a threat. Other an­i­mals such as Amer­i­can pikas and golden-man­tled ground squir­rels may re­spond to mar­mot alarm calls. Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots have cheek and anal glands. Scent mark­ing oc­curs with cheek glands in con­flict sit­u­a­tions, hav­ing more of a dom­i­nance rather than ter­ri­to­ri­al­ity func­tion. (Blum­stein, et al., 2004; Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980; Wey and Blum­stein, 2010)

Food Habits

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots are her­biv­o­rous, eat­ing a large range of plant types, in­clud­ing grasses, flow­ers, and forbs. In late sum­mer, large num­bers of seeds are eaten. They are most likely not food lim­ited, eat­ing only 0.8 to 3.1% of avail­able net pri­mary pro­duc­tion. Food might be lim­ited in areas where snow cover re­mains into the spring. They are se­lec­tive feed­ers and are known to re­ject parts of plants that are toxic. (Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980)

  • Plant Foods
  • seeds, grains, and nuts
  • flowers

Pre­da­tion

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots have a va­ri­ety of aer­ial and ter­res­trial preda­tors. Coy­otes are their most im­por­tant preda­tor, fol­lowed by bad­gers, Amer­i­can martens, black bears, and golden ea­gles. Risk of pre­da­tion may in­flu­ence for­ag­ing be­hav­ior, so­cial be­hav­ior, and habi­tat se­lec­tion, as in­di­vid­u­als at­tempt to re­duce risk of pre­da­tion by re­main­ing in bur­rows for ex­tended pe­ri­ods of time. Pre­da­tion ap­pears to be only a minor cause of mor­tal­ity for colo­nial an­i­mals and is more sig­nif­i­cant among pop­u­la­tions re­sid­ing at habi­tat mar­gins. (Ar­mitage, 2004; Blum­stein, et al., 2006; Van Vuren, 2001)

  • Anti-predator Adaptations
  • cryptic

Ecosys­tem Roles

In­ter­spe­cific com­pe­ti­tion with other species, such as hoary mar­mots may af­fect the dis­tri­b­u­tion and den­sity of yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots. As seed preda­tors, yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots may serve as habi­tat en­gi­neers that con­tribute to the den­sity and com­po­si­tion of plant com­mu­ni­ties through­out their ge­o­graphic range. In ad­di­tion, yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots are im­por­tant prey for a num­ber of dif­fer­ent aer­ial and ter­res­trial preda­tors. Once aban­doned, bur­rows likely serve as im­por­tant habi­tat for other fos­so­r­ial and semi-fos­so­r­ial species. (Nel­son, 1980)

  • Ecosystem Impact
  • disperses seeds
  • creates habitat

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

In cer­tain re­gions of its ge­o­graphic range, yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots killed for sport, food, or fur. (Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980)

  • Positive Impacts
  • food
  • body parts are source of valuable material

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots are known car­ri­ers of the plague, caused by the bac­terium Y. pestis. Al­though un­com­mon, hu­mans that come into di­rect phys­i­cal con­tact with this species may be at risk of con­tract­ing the plague. (Nel­son, 1980)

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots are clas­si­fied as a species of "least con­cern" on the IUCN's Red List of Threat­ened Species. Cur­rently, there are no major threats to the long-term per­sis­tence of this species. (Ar­mitage, 2004; Blum­stein, et al., 2006; Van Vuren, 2001)

Other Com­ments

There are 11 rec­og­nized sub­species of yel­low-bel­lied mar­mot. These in­clude Mar­mota fla­viven­tris avara, M. f. da­cota, M. f. en­gel­hardti, M. f. fla­viven­tris, M. f. for­tirostris, M. f. lu­te­ola, M. f. nosophora, M. f. no­tioros, M. f. ob­scura, M. f. parvula, and M. f. sier­rae. Yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots are closely re­lated to hoary mar­mots. The two species over­lap in a small range in north­west­ern Mon­tana and west­ern Wash­ing­ton. Sig­nif­i­cantly high ge­netic vari­a­tion be­tween colonies is a re­sult of mod­er­ately low gene flow from colony to colony cou­pled with ge­netic drift. De­spite great ge­netic vari­a­tion, gene flow is ad­e­quate enough to cir­cu­late ge­netic vari­ants be­tween colonies. This is due to the dis­per­sal of many young yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots from their birth colonies. (Frase and Hoff­mann, 1980)

Con­trib­u­tors

Ste­fanie Hwang (au­thor), The Col­lege of New Jer­sey, Matthew Wund (ed­i­tor), The Col­lege of New Jer­sey, John Berini (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web Staff, Cather­ine Kent (ed­i­tor), Spe­cial Pro­jects.

Glossary

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

acoustic

uses sound to communicate

altricial

young are born in a relatively underdeveloped state; they are unable to feed or care for themselves or locomote independently for a period of time after birth/hatching. In birds, naked and helpless after hatching.

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

causes disease in humans

an animal which directly causes disease in humans. For example, diseases caused by infection of filarial nematodes (elephantiasis and river blindness).

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

colonial

used loosely to describe any group of organisms living together or in close proximity to each other - for example nesting shorebirds that live in large colonies. More specifically refers to a group of organisms in which members act as specialized subunits (a continuous, modular society) - as in clonal organisms.

cooperative breeder

helpers provide assistance in raising young that are not their own

cryptic

having markings, coloration, shapes, or other features that cause an animal to be camouflaged in its natural environment; being difficult to see or otherwise detect.

desert or dunes

in deserts low (less than 30 cm per year) and unpredictable rainfall results in landscapes dominated by plants and animals adapted to aridity. Vegetation is typically sparse, though spectacular blooms may occur following rain. Deserts can be cold or warm and daily temperates typically fluctuate. In dune areas vegetation is also sparse and conditions are dry. This is because sand does not hold water well so little is available to plants. In dunes near seas and oceans this is compounded by the influence of salt in the air and soil. Salt limits the ability of plants to take up water through their roots.

diurnal
  1. active during the day, 2. lasting for one day.
dominance hierarchies

ranking system or pecking order among members of a long-term social group, where dominance status affects access to resources or mates

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

female parental care

parental care is carried out by females

folivore

an animal that mainly eats leaves.

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

fossorial

Referring to a burrowing life-style or behavior, specialized for digging or burrowing.

granivore

an animal that mainly eats seeds

herbivore

An animal that eats mainly plants or parts of plants.

hibernation

the state that some animals enter during winter in which normal physiological processes are significantly reduced, thus lowering the animal's energy requirements. The act or condition of passing winter in a torpid or resting state, typically involving the abandonment of homoiothermy in mammals.

iteroparous

offspring are produced in more than one group (litters, clutches, etc.) and across multiple seasons (or other periods hospitable to reproduction). Iteroparous animals must, by definition, survive over multiple seasons (or periodic condition changes).

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

mountains

This terrestrial biome includes summits of high mountains, either without vegetation or covered by low, tundra-like vegetation.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

polygynous

having more than one female as a mate at one time

scent marks

communicates by producing scents from special gland(s) and placing them on a surface whether others can smell or taste them

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

sedentary

remains in the same area

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

social

associates with others of its species; forms social groups.

tactile

uses touch to communicate

terrestrial

Living on the ground.

territorial

defends an area within the home range, occupied by a single animals or group of animals of the same species and held through overt defense, display, or advertisement

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

visual

uses sight to communicate

viviparous

reproduction in which fertilization and development take place within the female body and the developing embryo derives nourishment from the female.

Ref­er­ences

Ar­mitage, K. 2004. Bad­ger Pre­da­tion on Yel­low-bel­lied Mar­mots. The Amer­i­can Mid­land Nat­u­ral­ist, v. 151 no. 2: 378-387. Ac­cessed Feb­ru­ary 23, 2011 at http://​vnweb.​hwwilsonweb.​com/​hww/​results/​external_​link_​maincontentframe.​jhtml?_​DARGS=/​hww/​results/​results_​common.​jhtml.​44.

Blum­stein, D., A. Ozgu, V. Yovovich. 2006. Ef­fect of pre­da­tion risk on the pres­ence and per­sis­tence of yel­low-bel­lied mar­mot (Mar­mota fla­viven­tris) colonies. Jour­nal of Zo­ol­ogy, v. 270 no. 1: 132-138. Ac­cessed Feb­ru­ary 23, 2011 at http://​web.​ebscohost.​com/​ehost/​pdfviewer/​pdfviewer?​hid=113&​sid=d0bb74af-5002-40cc-acc3-d8f2b6e902d3%40sessionmgr115&​vid=3.

Blum­stein, D., S. Im, A. Nicode­mus. 2004. Yel­low-bel­lied Mar­mots (Mar­mota fla­viven­tris) Hi­ber­nate So­cially. Jour­nal of Mam­mal­ogy, v. 85 no. 1: 25-29. Ac­cessed Feb­ru­ary 23, 2011 at http://​web.​ebscohost.​com/​ehost/​pdfviewer/​pdfviewer?​hid=113&​sid=dab8744a-8939-4ad8-ad04-24a32b9c2f9e%40sessionmgr111&​vid=3.

Frase, B., R. Hoff­mann. 1980. Mar­mota fla­viven­tris. Mam­malian Species, No. 135: 1-8. Ac­cessed Feb­ru­ary 23, 2011 at http://​www.​science.​smith.​edu/​departments/​Biology/​VHAYSSEN/​msi/​pdf/​i0076-3519-135-01-0001.​pdf.

Nel­son, B. 1980. Plague stud­ies in Cal­i­for­nia—the roles of var­i­ous species of syl­vatic ro­dents in plague ecol­ogy in Cal­i­for­nia. Pro­ceed­ings of the 9th Ver­te­brate Pest Con­fer­ence: 89-96. Ac­cessed Feb­ru­ary 23, 2011 at http://​digitalcommons.​unl.​edu/​cgi/​viewcontent.​cgi?​article=1029&​context=vpc9.

Van Vuren, D. 2001. Pre­da­tion on Yel­low-Bel­lied Mar­mots (Mar­mota Fla­viven­tris). Amer­i­can Mid­land Nat­u­ral­ist, Vol. 145, No. 1: 94-100. Ac­cessed Feb­ru­ary 23, 2011 at http://​www.​jstor.​org/​stable/​3083083?​seq=3&​Search=yes&​searchText=marmots&​searchText=risk&​searchText=predation&​searchText=yellow-bellied&​searchText=Foraging&​list=hide&​searchUri=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch%3FQuery%3DForaging%2Band%2Bpredation%2Brisk%2Bin%2Byellow-bellied%2Bmarmots%26acc%3Don%26wc%3Don&​prevSearch=&​item=1&​ttl=40&​returnArticleService=showFullText&​resultsServiceName=null.

Wey, T., D. Blum­stein. 2010. So­cial co­he­sion in yel­low-bel­lied mar­mots is es­tab­lished through age and kin struc­tur­ing. An­i­mal Be­hav­iour, Vol­ume 79, Issue 6: 1343-1352. Ac­cessed Feb­ru­ary 23, 2011 at http://​www.​sciencedirect.​com/​science?_​ob=ArticleURL&_​udi=B6W9W-4YT6NFR-4&_​user=1086025&_​coverDate=06%2F30%2F2010&_​alid=1653968587&_​rdoc=1&_​fmt=high&_​orig=search&_​origin=search&_​zone=rslt_​list_​item&_​cdi=6693&_​sort=r&_​st=13&_​docanchor=&​view=c&_​ct=2&_​acct=C000051441&_​version=1&_​urlVersion=0&_​userid=1086025&​md5=73a3138382c8b5605940f8c589f96915&​searchtype=a.