[2] It occurs in mountainous regions in the central parts of Asia where it lives in open or lightly wooded habitats, often among rocks where dwarf junipers grow.

Its face is brownish and the top of its head is typically brown to black, but in small parts of its range it is the same colour as its back.

[3] The long-tailed marmot is restricted to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, far southern Kazakhstan (where rare), Uzbekistan, northern Pakistan, northwestern India and western China.

[3] Although its distribution comes into contact with those of the Menzbier's (M. menzbieri), grey (M. baibacina) and Himalayan marmots (M. himalayana), they are not known to hybridise.

M. c. caudata is from areas south of Chitral in Pakistan and adjacent parts of India, and M. c. dichrous is from highlands near Kabul and Ghazni in Afghanistan.

[3] The long-tailed marmot occurs in a wide range of open or lightly wooded habitats, including alpine meadows, foothill to highland steppes, semi-deserts, scrublands and open woodland (typically with junipers no more than 4 m or 13 ft high), especially in rocky areas.

[5] The long-tailed marmot usually forms monogamous relationships but lives in larger social groups, with up to seven adults sharing a single home range.

In a chamber in one of these burrows the marmots hibernate from about September to April or May, a period during which the ground is covered with snow for much of the time.

Mating occurs in late April and early May and may take place underground before the marmots emerge from the burrow after the winter.

Only about half of the pups survive the summer, some being consumed by predators and others being killed by adult males joining the group.