Global InformationGroundhog information
| Groundhog | |
|---|---|
| |
| Groundhog at Laval University campus, Quebec, Canada | |
Conservation status
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 Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Genus: | Marmota |
| Species: | M. monax
|
| Binomial name | |
| Marmota monax (Linnaeus, 1758)
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| Subspecies | |
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| Groundhog range in North America | |
| Synonyms | |
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Mus monax Linnaeus, 1758 | |
The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.[2] The groundhog is a lowland creature of North America; it is found through much of the Eastern United States, across Canada and into Alaska.[3] It was first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.[4]
The groundhog is also referred to as a chuck, wood-shock, groundpig, whistlepig,[5][6] whistler, thickwood badger, Canada marmot, monax, moonack, weenusk, red monk,[6] land beaver,[7] and, among French Canadians in eastern Canada, siffleux.[8] The name "thickwood badger" was given in the Northwest to distinguish the animal from the prairie badger. Monax (Móonack) is an Algonquian name of the woodchuck, which means "digger" (cf. Lenape monachgeu).[9][10] Young groundhogs may be called chucklings.[11]: 66
The groundhog, being a lowland animal, is exceptional among marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas. Groundhogs play an important role maintaining healthy soil in woodlands and plains. The groundhog is considered a crucial habitat engineer.[12][13][14] Groundhogs are considered the most solitary of the marmot species. They live in aggregations, and their social organization also varies across populations. Groundhogs do not form stable, long-term pair-bonds, and during mating season male-female interactions are limited to copulation. In Ohio, adult males and females associate with each other throughout the year and often from year to year.[15][16] Groundhogs are an extremely intelligent animal, forming complex social networks, able to understand social behavior, form kinship with their young, understand and communicate threats through whistling, and work cooperatively to solve tasks such as burrowing.[17][18]
- ^ Cassola, F. (2017) [errata version of 2016 assessment]. "Marmota monax". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T42458A115189992. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T42458A22257685.en. Retrieved February 19, 2022.
- ^ Thorington, R.W. Jr; Hoffman, R.S. (2005). "Family Sciuridae". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 802. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ "Marmota monax, Woodchuck". North American Mammals. Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
- ^ Linné, Carl von (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae. Vol. 1 (10 ed.). Impensis Direct. Laurentii Salvii. p. 60. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2018 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
- ^ "Marmota monax". North American Mammals. Smithsonian Institution. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
- ^ a b Seton, Ernest Thompson. Lives of Game Animals. Vol. IV. p. 300.
- ^ Keck, Nina (December 17, 2020). "Where Do The Terms 'Woodchuck' And 'Flatlander' Come From?". www.vpr.org. Archived from the original on January 25, 2021. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "La marmotte commune". Canadian Wildlife Federation - Faune et flore du pays (in French). Archived from the original on August 5, 2018.
- ^ Chamberlain, Alexander F. (November 22, 2018). "Algonkian Words in American English: A Study in the Contact of the White Man and the Indian". The Journal of American Folklore. 15 (59): 240–267. doi:10.2307/533199. JSTOR 533199.
- ^ Seton, Ernest Thompson. Lives of Game Animals. pp. 300–301.
- ^ Schoonmaker, W.J. (1966). The World of the Woodchuck. J.B. Lippincott. ISBN 978-1135544836.
- ^ Meier, Paul T. (December 1, 1992). "Social organization of woodchucks (Marmota monax)". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 31 (6): 393–400. doi:10.1007/BF00170606. S2CID 44244749. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2021 – via Springer Link.
- ^ Pustilnik, Jeremy D.; Searle, Jeremy B.; Curtis, Paul D. (2021). "The effects of red fox scent on winter activity patterns of suburban wildlife: evaluating predator-prey interactions and the importance of groundhog burrows in promoting biodiversity". Urban Ecosystems. 24 (3): 529–547. Bibcode:2021UrbEc..24..529P. doi:10.1007/s11252-020-01056-5. S2CID 224867974. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2021 – via Springer Link.
- ^ Moore, Alexis Lee; Butcher, Michael (May 18, 2011). "Functional specialization in the forelimbs of two digging mammals: the American badger (Taxidea taxus) and groundhog (Marmota monax)". The FASEB Journal. 25 (S1): 867.12. doi:10.1096/fasebj.25.1_supplement.867.12. S2CID 87167021.
- ^ Maher, Christine R.; Duron, Melissa (June 16, 2010). "Mating system and paternity in woodchucks (Marmota monax)". Journal of Mammalogy. 91 (3): 628–635. doi:10.1644/09-MAMM-A-324.1. S2CID 56472630.
- ^ Kwiecinski, Gary G. (December 4, 1998). "Marmota monax". Mammalian Species (591): 1–8. doi:10.2307/3504364. JSTOR 3504364. S2CID 253945560.
- ^ Maher, Christine R. (2009). "Genetic Relatedness and Space Use in a Behaviorally Flexible Species of Marmot, the Woodchuck (Marmota monax)" (PDF). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 63 (6): 857–868. doi:10.1007/s00265-009-0726-5. JSTOR 40295409. S2CID 20892108. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
- ^ Daniel, Janice C.; Blumstein, Daniel T. (1998). "A test of the acoustic adaptation hypothesis in four species of marmots" (PDF). Animal Behaviour. 56 (6). Department of Systematics and Ecology, University of Kansas: The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour: 1517–1528. doi:10.1006/anbe.1998.0929. PMID 9933550. S2CID 37133587. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 2, 2021. Retrieved May 29, 2021.