Groups are generally comprised of a breeding pair and non-dispersing offspring. When there are multiple adults, groups are male biased. Older animals may move between social groups. When a new male joins a social group young pups are often killed. This sort of male infanticide has also been documented in alpine marmots.
Golden marmots produce a single alarm call and vary the number of times they call according to risk.
This is a 5-note alarm call . Interestingly, and perhaps suggestive of speciation in action, long-tailed marmots in the northern part of their range have a slightly different alarm call .