The tarbagan marmot (Marmota sibirica), also called the Siberian or Mongolian marmot, is a medium-sized rodent of the family Sciuridae found in Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang in China, northern and western Mongolia, and southwestern Siberia, Tuva and Transbaikalia in Russia. Two subspecies are recognised. Adults of both sexes average 6 to 8 kg, it is one of only two marmots that live in lowland areas, and it feeds on steppe grasses. The species was classified as endangered by the IUCN in 2008. It has long been eaten in Mongolian cooking, notably in the dish boodog, where hot stones cook the deboned animal inside its own skin. The marmot also carries plague: epizootics in northeastern China and Mongolia, including the Manchurian plague of 1910 to 1911, have spread to people through fleas or through eating infected meat. Its burrows act as shelters and basking sites for other animals, and it is an important prey of wolves and golden eagles.
Facts
Classification
Population Trend System (Realm) ThreatsBiological Resource Use 1 Relationship to People Relationship to People Relationship to PeopleEaten or Drunk by People 1 Living or Extinct Conservation Status Body Size Band Activity Pattern Comparison
CITES Appendix Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Tarbagan marmot (Wikipedia)
In Biome
Source Animal Diversity Web: Marmota sibirica
Steppe, Biomes Source Animal Diversity Web: Marmota sibirica
In Ecosystem
Source Animal Diversity Web: Marmota sibirica
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Tarbagan marmot (Wikipedia)LeadQuote, Lead
It is found in China (Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang), northern and western Mongolia, and Russia (southwest Siberia, Tuva, Transbaikalia).
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Tarbagan marmot (Wikipedia)LeadQuote, Lead
It is found in China (Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang), northern and western Mongolia, and Russia (southwest Siberia, Tuva, Transbaikalia).
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Tarbagan marmot (Wikipedia)LeadQuote, Lead
It is found in China (Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang), northern and western Mongolia, and Russia (southwest Siberia, Tuva, Transbaikalia).
Sources
1. Animal Diversity Web: Marmota sibirica
Animal Diversity WebConservation Status
Tarbagan marmots are considered endangered by the IUCN.
Food Habits
Tarbagan marmots are herbivorous and have a fairly simple diet, which consists largely of grasses.
Key Behaviors
diurnal
Habitat
Tarbagan marmots require habitats with ample vegetation for grazing, such as grasslands, shrublands, mountain steppes, alpine meadows, open steppes, forest steppes, mountain slopes, semi-deserts, river basins, and valleys.
Behavior, living population
Tarbagan marmots are social animals, living in large colonies of their extended family.
Conservation Status, CITES
CITES No special status
Conservation Status, population trend
The population has been experiencing a long term decline, and 70% of the population was lost in the 1990s.
Conservation Status, threats
This decline is primarily attributed to exploitation by human enterprise (food, fur, sport) and disease (the plague).
Conservation Status, relationship to people
Most notably, Tarbagan marmots have been hunted vigorously for their skins.
Economic Importance for Humans: Positive
Local populations of Mongolian herders use the meat of Tarbagan marmots for food and their body parts for medicine.
Economic Importance for Humans: Negative
Tarbagan marmots are vectors of the bubonic plague
In Ecosystem: Mongolian Steppe, Geographic Range
Within Mongolia, M. s. sibirica lives on the eastern steppes and the Hentii mountain range.
View the Source 2. Tarbagan marmot (Wikipedia)
Description and ecology
both having an average weight of 6-8 kg
In Group: Rodents And Lagomorphs, Lead
is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae
Child Taxon Of: Sciuridae, Lead
is a species of rodent in the family Sciuridae
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