K 18 British Columbia. 1921 



on Vancouver Island during the first three weeks of July no young ones of M. vancouvcrcnsix 

 had yet emerged from the burrows." 



Laying up no store of food for winter use,, all species of these marmots hibernate and become 

 dormant during winter for a period of from four to six months, hibernating from the middle 

 of September or October until the middle or latter part of March. Some of the yellow-footed 

 species have been known to retire as early as the middle of August, when weather is genial and 

 food abundant, the dates varying with the altitude and local condition, those individuals living 

 in the valleys denning up earlier than those living higher up the mountains ; in mild winters 

 they occasionally appear at the mouth of their burrows in February, but re-efiter their burrows 

 and again become dormant if the temperature falls. 



Of extinct and allied forms we know little. Remains of extinct species of Susliks occur in 

 the higher Tertiary rocks of Europe, and the Upper Eocene beds of France produce evidence of 

 an extinct but apparently allied genus known as Plesispermophilus. More primitive are the 

 forms described as Plesiarctomys, which, while showing certain resemblances both to the marmots 

 and squirrels, are found in the middle Tertiary deposits both of Europe and North America. 



Species known to British Columbia. 



Marniota monax canadensis (Erxleben). Type locality given as Quebec, Canada. Distribu- 

 tion, greater part of interior of Canada from Great Slave Lake and York Factory, south to 

 Southern Alberta- (Red Deer), Central Saskatchewan (Cumberland House), Northern Wisconsin 

 and Michigan, Central Ontario, Southern Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. 



" A single young specimen in very worn pelage from near the head of Finlay River, British 

 Columbia, seems referable to canadensis, but with more material from this region may necessitate 

 its reference to ochrucea." (A. H. Howell.) 



Marniota monax petrensis (British Columbia Woodchuek). Type from Revelstoke, British 

 Columbia ; collected May 12th, 1890, by W. Spreadborough. Distribution, interior ranges of 

 Southern British Columbia and adjacent parts of United States ; from Barkerville. British 

 Columbia, south to Thompson Pass, Idaho. Specimens identified from Barkerville ; Glacier ; 

 Revelstoke. 



Marniota monax ochracea Swarth (Ochraceous Woodchuek). Type locality, head of 40-Mile 

 Creek, Alaska. Distribution, interior mountain ranges of Yukon and Northern British Columbia 

 from 40-Mile Creek south to the Babine Mountains. Specimens identified from Babine mountains ; 

 Pike River, Atlin ; Takla Lake. A short series of skulls without skins from Stuart Lake is 

 provisionally referred to this race. 



Two museum specimens, Nos. 247 and 24S, collected at Pike River, Atlin. July 29th, 1914. 

 and identified as this species by Mr. A. H. Howell, Biological Survey, Washington, show two 

 varying phases — No. 247, an immature female, being very dark blackish brown all over, with 

 the exception of a few greyish hairs on nostrils and lower lip. Indians and whites who are well 

 acquainted with this locality state that whole colonies of marmots of this colour have been 

 observed by them. The other. No. 24S, also an immature female, is a pale reddish cinnamon 

 tipped with a very pale reddish buff, giving it a bicolour appearance: under-parts cinnamon 

 rufous. With such phases occurring it is very desirable to have a large series of skins with 

 skulls from this particular locality. 



According to Mr. Howell in his revision of the genus, published in 1915. " Melanism is most 

 strongly developed in the subspecies Marniota caligata- vigilis, occupying the region around 

 Glacier Bay, Alaska, and that no purely black specimens of M. monax have been seen, but a 

 melanistic phase is rather common in New York and New England." 



Marniota flaviventris avara Bangs (Pallid Yellow-bellied Marmot). Type locality. 

 Okanagan, British Columbia. Distribution, interior valleys and foot-bills of Southern British 

 Columbia and Eastern Washington and Oregon. Specimens identified from Ashcroft : Cascade: 

 Midway; Nicola Valley ; Okanagan; renticton ; Vernon. 



Marmota caligata caligata (Esehscholtz) (Northern Hoary Marmot). Type locality. Bristol 

 Bay, Alaska. Distribution, Alaska and Yukon from the Portland Canal, north on the coast to 

 Bristol Bay. and in the interior to the Endicott Range and the mountains lying westward of 

 Fort Good Hope. Mackenzie. Specimens identified from Bennett: Cheonee Mountains: Atlin. 



Uainmtii caligata owytona Bollister (Robson Hoary Marmot). Type locality, bead of Moose 

 Pass, branch of Smoky River. Alberta: altitude. 7.200 feet. Distribution, interior of Northern 



