The Menzbier's marmot (''Marmota menzbieri'') is a species of
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
in the family
Sciuridae
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels (including chipmunks and prairie dogs, among others), and flying squirrels. Squ ...
from
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
.
Its name commemorates Russian zoologist
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Menzbier
Mikhail Aleksandrovich Menzbier (Russian: Михаил Александрович Мензбир; 23 October 1855 – 10 October 1935) was a Russian ornithologist. Based in Moscow, he was a founding member of Russia's first ornithological body, ...
.
Distribution and habitat
It inhabits meadows and steppe at altitudes of in the western
Tien Shan Mountains of
Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbeki ...
,
Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...
,
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan (, ; uz, Ozbekiston, italic=yes / , ; russian: Узбекистан), officially the Republic of Uzbekistan ( uz, Ozbekiston Respublikasi, italic=yes / ; russian: Республика Узбекистан), is a doubly landlocked co ...
and far northern
Tajikistan
Tajikistan (, ; tg, Тоҷикистон, Tojikiston; russian: Таджикистан, Tadzhikistan), officially the Republic of Tajikistan ( tg, Ҷумҳурии Тоҷикистон, Jumhurii Tojikiston), is a landlocked country in Centr ...
.
Conservation
It has the smallest range among the
Palearctic species of
marmot
Marmots are large ground squirrels in the genus ''Marmota'', with 15 species living in Asia, Europe, and North America. These herbivores are active during the summer, when they can often be found in groups, but are not seen during the winter, ...
and tends to occur in low densities, with a population estimate in 1998 indicating that there were a total of 22,000 individuals and an estimate in 2005 indicating that there were 20,000–25,000 individuals in Kazakhstan alone.
[ The IUCN considers it vulnerable with the main threat being habitat loss from expanding agriculture and a smaller threat being hunting for food.]species group
In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
, but they segregate by habitat, with the Menzbier's marmot preferring wetter areas at a higher altitude and with shorter grass.[
]
Description
It is the smallest Palearctic species of marmot with a head-and-body length if and a weight of .[ It is a relatively short-tailed species with a long and dense fur. Uniquely among marmots, it has dark upperparts and rear parts that contrast clearly with the pale underparts and frontal parts. Like other marmots, it gradually becomes darker overall as the season progresses.][
]
Taxonomy
The range of the Menzbier's marmot is split in two by the Pskem River and its valley. Although the two populations are very similar in their appearance, they are clearly separated genetically
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar working i ...
, leading to the recognition of the northern ''M. m. menzbieri'' and the southern subspecies ''M. m. zachidovi''.[ Menzbier's marmots hibernate from August or September to April or May.][
]
References
*Thorington, R. W. Jr. and R. S. Hoffman. 2005. Family Sciuridae. pp. 754–818 ''in'' Mammal Species of the World a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. D. E. Wilson and D. M. Reeder eds. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore.
Marmots
Mammals described in 1925
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot
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