La marcatura olfattiva del territorio nella Marmotta alpina: influenza del sesso e dello stato riproduttivo [Le marquage olfactif du territoire chez la marmotte alpine : influence du sexe et du statut reproducteur. Olfactory marking of alpine marmot territory: effect of sex and reproductive status].

Résumé

The alpine marmot Marmota marmota L.) is a high altitude social hibernator living in colonies composed by two or more familiar groups. Each group is constituted by a monogamous pair and offspring up to third fourth generation and occupies a territory actively defended from intruder neighbours. The present paper shows that in alpine marmots marking behaviour has a primary role in olfactory communication about territorial boundaries, which is in contrast with what happens in north American species. Moreover, as in other monogamous species such as wolves, it is shown that there is no sex difference in marking behaviour and that adult reproducers mark more than subordinates.