Laurent, Here are my edited versions of your abstract and introduction. I hope I did not change any of your meanings. I have included comments on what I did at the end of this letter. If you have any questions, please let me know. Are you trying to meet a deadline? Are you in a hurry to have my editorial comments? I can finish the rest of your manuscript by this Friday, but if that is too late, please let me know. Have a great day, Brett Abstract Early development of the Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota), was investigated from birth to shortly after emergence for 13 pups born in captivity. Fifty variables relative to behavioural development and physical maturation were monitored each day. Body condition explains most of the variability of early development among juveniles. Poorer body condition was associated with delayed early development. The Alpine marmot has a similar development sequence to other altricial sciurid species except for auditory development. This specific pattern may be related to habitat (open or closed). Behavioral development in M. marmota is slower than other ground squirrels and is among the heaviest species. However, tree squirrels tend to have a slower timing of development than ground squirrels although they are lighter. We propose that accelerated ontogeny of hibernators and allometric constraints act in opposite ways to shape the timing of development of sciurid rodents. Introduction Studies have examined early development among sciurid rodents (e.g. Hirshfeld and Bradley 1977, Levenson 1979, Koeppl and Hoffmann 1981, Ferron and Ouellet 1985, Viljoen and Du Toit 1985). Growth and mass has been well documented, but few studies are devoted to behavioural ontogeny (Horwich 1972, Ferron 1984, Ferron and Ouellet 1991), and these studies are often anecdotal (e.g. Shaw 1925, Gander 1930, Blair 1942, Clark and Skryja 1969). In particular, we know little about the early development of marmots (Ferron and Ouellet 1991). The Alpine marmot (Marmota marmota) is a hibernating ground squirrel. Ground squirrel (Marmota, Spermophilus and Cynomys spp.) neonates are altricial and are reared to weaning inside a burrow and under similar conditions (Recommend a Reference). Therefore, selection pressures on the early ontogeny of ground-dwelling squirrels is expected to be similar, and the ontogeny of the Alpine marmot should follow a development sequence similar to other hibernating ground squirrels as suggested by Ferron (1991). Environmental factors influence individual variability in early development as early as their conception (Case 1978). Environmental manipulation, (i.e., food restriction) during the early postnatal period can induce pervasive and frequently persistent perturbations in development (Levine and Otis 1958, Denenberg 1964, Barnes, et al. 1968, Altman, et al. 1970, Levitsky and Barnes 1970, Sykes and Cheyne 1976, Hall, et al. 1979), such as abnormalities in bone and muscle development (Reference suggested), and associated reduction in growth rate (Platt and Stewart 1962). Furthermore, in addition to environmental factors, variation in body condition may influence early development in juvenile Alpine marmots. Growth patterns vary greatly among mammalian species (Zullinger, et al. 1984, Kirkwood 1985, Pontier, et al. 1989). This interspecific variability reflects phylogenetical, ecological and allometrical constraints (Ferron 1981, Peters 1983, Gaillard, et a l. 1997). Sciurid rodents occur in a wide variety of habitats and adult body mass varies greatly. Moreover, accelerated ontogeny has been highlighted as a distinct advantage for hibernating ground squirrels that must grow fast and store fat quickly in a limited time to survive hibernation (Clark 1970). In this study, we will examine the early ontogeny of 13 captive juvenile Alpine marmots from birth to weaning and determine if their is a relationship between body condition and postnatal ontogeny. We will also compare the behavioural ontogeny of 7 sciurid species belonging to ground squirrels, tree squirrels and flying squirrels. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laurent,I have read everything except your discussion section. I am enjoying the paper very much, and I think it is a very interesting idea. Thanks for allowing me to read it. I am not sure if you will like my changes, but I tried to be as helpful as possible. I will give you rest later this week. I did not know if you wanted comments or just editing. So, here are my comments, which you can choose to ignore, if you like. Introduction 1. I did not consider at least two of the citations in your first sentence as theoretical, so I cut that word out completely. 2. Are all burrow conditions the same? Are there temperature, humidity, and location differences that may influence juvenile development? What about the number of young in a burrow, could this affect thermoregulation? 3. I would like to have read what you expect to gain from your 7 species comparison in the introduction. I assume you believe the larer squirrels will have slower development, but this will be confounded by whether they hibernate or not. It wasn't clea r. 4. What causes the variation in body condition? Is it genetic? How is body condition separated from environmental conditions? I think you study can do this, because the environmental conditions are the same for every animal. 5. Several years ago, a student of Ken held several gravid females in captivity. The females ate so many of the offspring, she could not carry out her study. The behavior of your Alpine marmots did not surprise me.