The tarbagan marmot (''Marmota sibirica'') 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 ...
. It is found in
China (
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
and
Heilongjiang
Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost province ...
), northern and western
Mongolia
Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
(southwest
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
,
Tuva
Tuva (; russian: Тува́) or Tyva ( tyv, Тыва), officially the Republic of Tuva (russian: Респу́блика Тыва́, r=Respublika Tyva, p=rʲɪˈspublʲɪkə tɨˈva; tyv, Тыва Республика, translit=Tyva Respublika ...
,
Transbaikalia
Transbaikal, Trans-Baikal, Transbaikalia ( rus, Забайка́лье, r=Zabaykalye, p=zəbɐjˈkalʲjɪ), or Dauria (, ''Dauriya'') is a mountainous region to the east of or "beyond" (trans-) Lake Baikal in Far Eastern Russia.
The steppe and ...
).
In the Mongolian
Altai Mountains, its range overlaps with that of the
Gray marmot. The species was classified as
endangered
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...
by the
IUCN in 2008.
Two subspecies are recognized:
[
* ''M. s. sibirica''
* ''M. s. caliginosus''
]
As a game animal
The tarbagan marmot has been eaten for centuries in the native cuisine of Mongolia, and in particular in a local dish called ''boodog
Boodog is a Mongolian cuisine dish of barbecued goat or Tarbagan marmot cooked with heated stones inserted into the carcass. It is prepared on special occasions. The meat, often accompanied by vegetables, is cooked with heated stones in a seale ...
''. The meat is cooked by inserting hot stones, preheated in a fire, into the abdominal cavity of a deboned marmot. The skin is then tied up to make a bag within which the meat cooks. Hunting of marmots for food is typically done in autumn when the animals are heavier since they are preparing for hibernation.
The Russian explorer Richard Maack
Richard Otto Maack (also Richard Karlovic Maak, Russian: Ричард Карлович Маак; 4 September 1825 – 25 November 1886) was a 19th-century Russian naturalist, geographer, and anthropologist. He is most known for his explorat ...
, who encountered tarbagans in the Ingoda Valley in Siberia, described the tarbagan hunt as follows:
Hunting the tarbagan is quite difficult. It is not easy to approach to a tarbagan within a rifle shot; besides, the wary animal never goes far from its burrow, and, if it is not killed right away, always manage to hide in the burrow. In that case one needs to dig it out, which involves a lot of labor, as tarbagans' burrows are quite deep.
As a disease carrier
Epizootic
In epizoology, an epizootic (from Greek: ''epi-'' upon + ''zoon'' animal) is a disease event in a nonhuman animal population analogous to an epidemic in humans. An epizootic may be restricted to a specific locale (an "outbreak"), general (an "epi ...
s of the plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pe ...
occur in tarbagan marmots in northeastern China and Mongolia, such as the Manchurian plague
The Manchurian plague was a pneumonic plague that occurred mainly in Manchuria in 1910–1911. It killed 60,000 people, stimulating a multinational medical response and the wearing of the first personal protective equipment (PPE).
__TOC__
Histor ...
of 1910–1911.[ Marmot epizootics are known to co-occur with human epidemics in the same area.][ Human plague epidemics in this area are largely ]pneumonic plague
Pneumonic plague is a severe lung infection caused by the bacterium ''Yersinia pestis''. Symptoms include fever, headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing. They typically start about three to seven days after exposure. It is one ...
, the most deadly form of plague.[ In 2019, a Mongolian couple died of plague after eating raw marmot meat.]
Benefits to the environment
The tarbagan marmot is known to be an ecosystem engineer as it provides various resources to other organisms. Within the landscape, tarbagan marmot burrows provide a network of basking sites for thermoregulation, feeding areas, and refuges for other species, possibly leading to a more suitable habitat and increased survivability.[Suuri, B., Baatargal, O., Bayartogtokh, B., & Reading, R. P. (2022). Ecosystem Engineering influence of Mongolian marmots (Marmota sibirica) on small mammal communities in Mongolia. ''Journal of Asia-Pacific Biodiversity'', ''15''(2), 172–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.japb.2022.02.003] In addition, for raptors and carnivorous species like gray wolves and golden eagles, tarbagan marmots are a significant source of food.
References
Further reading
* 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.
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1251864
Marmots
Mammals described in 1862
Mammals of China
Mammals of Mongolia
Mammals of Russia
Taxa named by Gustav Radde
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot