Image via Wikipedia
Yesterday I posted about the decrease in sea otters. Today I will be writing about a marmot population has recently tripled in a valley in Colorado. This is most likely due to a warming climate change resulting in an early exit from hibernation. This give the marmots an extra 20 days to eat and fatten up. The extra weight increases the marmots chances of survival and success rate at reproduction.
This is not necessarily good news. Marmots are adapted to cold environments. If temperatures continues to climb, they may lose their habitat resulting in negative consequences for their survival.
For more details see article in Wired: Fat Marmot Population Explodes or at nature.com: Marmots fatten up on climate change
Natural History Wanderings 
That’s why conservationists are trying to get endangered species listings for the American pika, which is supposed to be even more sensitive to high temps.
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By: John Wall on August 18, 2010
at 4:33 PM
This is one of those cases where the animal is so homely they’re cute. I’ve heard of marmots, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a picture before. Thanks for showing it.
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By: mishibone on August 18, 2010
at 3:52 PM