In observations of 14 family groups, play fell sharply above 21 °C while social behaviours important for group stability persisted.
A study of wild Alpine marmots found that temperature affected their social behaviours differently. Grooming, greetings and aggressive interactions remained relatively stable, while play declined as conditions became warmer.
Play was most common at 12.8 °C, but play interactions fell to almost zero above 21 °C. The researchers suggest that this flexible behaviour could provide an early sign of heat stress, before changes in population numbers become apparent.
The researchers recorded 667 social interactions during 189 hours of observation of 14 Alpine marmot family groups in June 2023, 2024 and 2025. They examined four behaviours: play, aggression, greetings and grooming.
Temperature did not constrain all social behaviour in the same way. Grooming, greetings and aggressive interactions were buffered against warmer conditions, but play was suppressed. Play activity peaked at 12.8 °C, and the rate of play interactions fell to near zero as temperatures rose above 21 °C.
The researchers describe play as a flexible behaviour that occurs when animals are in relatively relaxed conditions and may be given up under stress. Because play helps immature marmots acquire motor and social skills, they suggest that a sustained reduction could have long-term developmental consequences. The study did not directly measure those consequences.
The findings suggest that Alpine marmots may reduce a nonessential social activity before heat affects behaviours needed to maintain group stability. That makes declining play a possible early behavioural signal of thermal stress in this cold-adapted species. The researchers propose that warmer conditions could compromise social dynamics before demographic changes, such as shifts in population size, are detectable; this study does not establish that such changes will occur.
The study combined 667 observed social interactions from 14 Alpine marmot family groups with temperature records collected during June 2023, 2024 and 2025. The observations covered 189 hours and were analysed with statistical models. Because the study examined naturally varying temperatures rather than assigning conditions experimentally, it shows a relationship between temperature and play but does not by itself establish the long-term effects of reduced play or prove that heat causes developmental deficits. The proposed use of play as an early heat-stress indicator also requires testing in other populations and over longer periods.
Animal Behaviour · 2026 · DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2026.123679
Authors: Diego Rastelli, Maria Paniw, Achaz von Hardenberg, Caterina Ferrari
Institutions: University of Pavia, Estación Biológica de Doñana
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