Forest steppe marmot
| Forest steppe marmot | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Marmota kastschenkoi | ||||||||||||
| ( Stroganov & Judin , 1956) |
The forest steppe marmot ( Marmota kastschenkoi ) is a type of squirrel from the genus of the marmots ( Marmota ). It occurs only in southwestern Siberia in the region around Novosibirsk , Tomsk and Kemerovo in Russia .
features
The forest steppe marmot reaches a head-trunk length of about 49.5 to 64.0 centimeters, the tail is about 12.4 to 20 millimeters long and is thus, as with all marmots, significantly shorter than the rest of the body. The weight is around 3000 to 6300 grams in spring and 4600 to 9000 grams in autumn. The back of the animals is dark brown, the underside is a little lighter and can be yellowish or sandy brown to reddish brown. The muzzle is also brown with sand-colored or red-brown spots around the nose and a white spot on the chin.
distribution
The forest steppe marmot is endemic only in southwestern Siberia in the region around Novosibirsk , Tomsk and Kemerovo in Russia .
Way of life
The forest steppe marmot is diurnal and lives in open forest steppes and pasture areas. It can also be found in abandoned buildings and in old cemeteries. The animals are herbivorous and the diet consists mainly of young grasses and herbs and other available plants from the habitat, while regionally they also eat garden crops such as beans and peas. In the vicinity of human dwellings, they can also start foraging at night.
The animals live like other marmots on the ground and in underground burrows. The activity period is relatively short and the animals spend the winter in hibernation for seven to eight months. They form colonies that usually consist of family groups of a dominant male, two to three adult females, and four to eight immature young animals up to three years of age. The territory of such a family group is about one hectare. The burrows are usually on the slope and have several entrances with typical heaps of earth and are used both for raising young and for wintering. There are also several escape structures on the edge of the colony. When threatened, the animals emit high-frequency whistles as warning sounds. Adult males leave the family group and often settle on the edge of the territory, but they can also hike longer distances and then travel up to 15 kilometers per day.
Systematics
The forest steppe marmot is classified as an independent species within the marmots (genus Marmota ), which consists of fifteen species. The first scientific description comes from the Russian zoologists Sergei Uljanowitsch Stroganow and Boris Stepanowitsch Judin from 1956. Apart from the nominate form, no subspecies are distinguished within the species .
Status, threat and protection
The forest steppe marmot is not listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). In the Tomsk and Kusbas lists of endangered species, stocks are described as rapidly decreasing. Hunting is one of the main reasons for the decline in populations.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012, ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 , pp. 281-282 .
literature
- Richard W. Thorington Jr. , John L. Koprowski, Michael A. Steele: Squirrels of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD 2012, ISBN 978-1-4214-0469-1 , pp. 281-282 .