Yellow-bellied marmot | |
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Yellow-bellied marmot in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Rodentia |
Family: | Sciuridae |
Genus: | Marmota |
Subgenus: | Marmota (Petromarmota) |
Species: | M. flaviventer
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Binomial name | |
Marmota flaviventer | |
Yellow-bellied Marmot range[1] |
The yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventer), also known as the rock chuck, is a large, stout-bodied ground squirrel in the marmot genus.[2] It is one of fourteen species of marmots, and is native to mountainous and semi-arid regions of southwestern Canada and western United States, including the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and the Great Basin, often (but not exclusively) living above 2,000 metres (6,500 feet)[citation needed]. The fur is mainly brown, with a dark bushy tail, yellow chest and white patch between the eyes, and they weigh up to approximately 5 kilograms (11 pounds). They live in burrows in colonies of up to twenty individuals with a single dominant male. They are diurnal and feed on plant material, insects, and bird eggs. They hibernate for approximately eight months starting in September and lasting through the winter.
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