Yellow-bellied Marmot

Yellow-bellied Marmot covered with snow perched on a rock. Desolation Wilderness, El Dorado County, California, USA.
Least concern conservation status
OrderRodentia
FamilySciuridae
GenusMarmota
SubgenusMarmota (Petromarmota)
Binomial nameMarmota flaviventris
Yellow-bellied Marmot range map
Range of species in blue

The yellow-bellied marmot can weigh up to 5 kilograms and usually measures between 47 and 68 cm in length. 

This species of marmot is also called a rock chuck. They are a large squirrel which forms one of the fourteen species of marmots.

They are native to the mountainous regions of Canada and the Rocky Mountains, Mount Rainer and the Sierra Nevada, in the United States. These animals usually inhabit areas which are above 6500 feet (or 2000 meters).

Their fur is brown with a bushy tail. They live in colonies with a single dominant male and hibernate during the wintertime for approximately eight months.