Steppe marmot
| Steppe marmot | ||||||||||||
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Steppe marmot ( Marmota bobak ) |
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| Marmota bobak | ||||||||||||
| ( Statius Müller , 1776) |
The steppe marmot ( Marmota bobak ) is a species of the marmots (genus Marmota ) from the squirrel family . The species is widespread in eastern Europe to Asia.
features
The steppe marmot reaches a head-torso length of 49 to 57.5 centimeters with a weight of about 5.7 kilograms. The tail is about 10.6 to 13.0 inches long. The coloring of the animals is fairly monochrome, straw-yellow to rust-red on the back, but is only slightly lighter on the belly. Part of the head is dark brown to black in color. Within the genus of the marmots, the steppe marmot has particularly long front extremities. The color of the tail corresponds to the back side, the tip of the tail is brown to black.
Distribution area
The distribution area of the steppe marmot includes the steppes in Eastern European Russia , Belarus , the Ukraine as well as northern and central Kazakhstan . Its distribution area has shrunk considerably in the last few decades, as the agricultural use of the steppes has increased and the marmot is a cultivator . The European deposits are found in the Streletsk steppe and in the Derkul steppe in the Kharkov district and in the stone steppe in the Voronezh district . The animals were also resettled in the Caucasus in Dagestan .
Way of life
The steppe marmot primarily uses a very lush herbaceous steppe as a habitat, it can also be found in the forest steppe and in the grasslands. Like other marmots, the steppe marmot also lives on grassy slopes and on the edge of agricultural areas.
The steppe marmot is diurnal and feed on herbivores of green herbs, buds, flowers and sprouts. With its long extremities, it is specially adapted to a life in which the digging of earthworks plays an essential role. The animals overwinter in their burrows in groups for a period of six to seven months. The structures are complex and reach a depth of four to five meters, from the outside they can be recognized by the high earth walls of ejected earth. As with the prairie dogs , individual individuals of the colony often sit on the earth walls and monitor the area in order to give out loud alarm calls in the event of disturbances and impending danger. The entrances and mounds of earth are marked with oral and glandular secretions.
The females give birth to a litter of four to seven young animals in late spring to early summer, with around 60% of the females having young. The young stay with their parents for about three years and only leave the den when they reach sexual maturity. The family groups and colonies consist of several families, each led by a dominant male and a full-grown female. There are also several older young animals from the past two years as well as the young animals from the last litter. The groups are sometimes unstable, especially in areas with severe human disturbance. The animals can live up to 7.5 years.
Systematics
The steppe marmot is classified as an independent species within the genus of the marmots ( Marmota ), which currently consists of 15 species. The first scientific description comes from the zoologist Philipp Ludwig Statius Müller from 1776, who described the species on the basis of individuals from what was then Poland, later this was limited to the western bank of the Dnepr in the Ukraine.
Within the species, together with the nominate form, three subspecies are distinguished:
- M. b. bobak : nominate form, occurs in the western part of the distribution area in the Volga region. The shape is darker on the head and body than the other subspecies.
- M. b. kozlovi : with a fragmented habitat in the central area of the habitat, near Ulyanovsk in Russia.
- M. b. tschaganensis : in the eastern part of the range. The shape is bright straw yellow in color.
In Wilson & Reeder 2005, Thorington described only two subspecies, M. b. He later considered kozlovi to be valid and published it in Thorington et al. 2012 added.
Status, threat and protection
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The steppe marmot is classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). This is justified with the recovery of the stocks in the last 10 years or so and the current stability of the population sizes. In the past up to the middle of the 20th century, the stocks declined rapidly due to intensive hunting and loss of habitat, even today there is still illegal hunting of the animals as meat and fur suppliers.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Richard W. Thorington Jr., John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; Pp. 272-273. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
- ↑ Bibikow: The marmots of the world. 1996, p. 35.
- ↑ a b Marmota bobak In: Don E. Wilson , DeeAnn M. Reeder (Ed.): Mammal Species of the World. A taxonomic and geographic Reference. 2 volumes. 3. Edition. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2005, ISBN 0-8018-8221-4 .
- ↑ a b c Marmota bobak in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.4. Posted by: K. Tsytsulina, I. Zagorodnyuk, N. Formozov, B. Sheftel, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
literature
- Dmitri Iwanowitsch Bibikow : The marmots of the world. Marmota (= The New Brehm Library. Vol. 388). 2nd, completely revised and expanded edition. Westarp-Wissenschaften et al., Magdeburg et al. 1996, ISBN 3-89432-426-0 .
- Richard W. Thorington Jr., John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012; Pp. 271-273. ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1
- Monika Preleuthner, Gerhard Aubrecht (Ed.): Marmots (= catalog of the Upper Austrian State Museum. NF No. 146 = Stapfia. Vol. 63). Biology Center, Linz 1999, ISBN 3-85474-044-1 , online at ZOBODAT
Web links
- Marmota bobak inthe IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015.4. Posted by: K. Tsytsulina, I. Zagorodnyuk, N. Formozov, B. Sheftel, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2016.