Swiss marmots communicate in regional dialects

Swiss marmots and humans share a tendency to communicate in local dialect. Keystone / Dominic Steinmann

Swiss-German speakers are known to converse in distinctive regional dialects, but the phenomenon has now been found to extend to marmots – a rodent commonly found in alpine regions.

A study of different marmot groups in cantons Bern and Graubünden found that their warning signals were unique to each area.

Their whistles are delivered with different frequencies, duration and sequences, according to research. Marmots in Graubünden’s Münsterthal region, in southeastern Switzerland, are more talkative than their cousins in the central canton of Bern.

The topography of each environment may explain the different dialects, explains researcher Sarah Marmorosch. Münsterthal has a hillier landscape, which creates stronger winds.

“It’s possible that the Graubünden marmots had to adapt their calls to their windier, and therefore louder, environment,” she told public broadcaster SRF.

But Marmorosch also speculates that the dialects may have genetic reasons or that repeated call mistakes by individuals have been learned by youngsters and handed down generations.

Further research is planned to pinpoint the actual reasons behind the local marmot dialects.

Marmots are a type of ground squirrel that can be found in Europe, Asia and North America.