Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Lagomorpha > Ochotonidae > Ochotona > Ochotona alpinaOchotona alpina (Alpine Pika)Synonyms: Lepus alpinus The alpine pika (Ochotona alpina) is a species of mammal in the pika family, Ochotonidae. It is found in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia in very cold, mountainous regions. It is a small mammal only weighing about 5 ounces (0.31 lb) and about 7 inches (18 cm) long. They have no visible tail, round ears, and sharp claws used for foraging and digging. They feed mainly on plant stems, which they gather during the summer for the winter months to create haypiles. This storage will sometimes be shared with other species such as reindeer. They have been known to share their burrows with snow finches, as they will help them build their nest. They are sometimes referred to as the whistling hare because of their rabbit-like behavior and high-pitched warning calls. |
Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) Unique (100) Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) Unique & Vulnerable (100) ED Score: 7.78 EDGE Score: 2.17 |
Adult Weight [1] | 150 grams | Birth Weight [2] | 8 grams |  | Diet [3] | Herbivore | Diet - Plants [3] | 100 % | Forages - Ground [3] | 100 % |  | Female Maturity [2] | 6 months 23 days |  | Gestation [2] | 30 days | Litter Size [2] | 3 | Litters / Year [2] | 2 | Maximum Longevity [2] | 3 years | Snout to Vent Length [2] | 7 inches (18 cm) |
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Name |
Countries |
Ecozone |
Biome |
Species |
Report |
Climate |
Land Use |
Alashan Plateau semi-desert |
China, Mongolia |
Palearctic |
Deserts and Xeric Shrublands |
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Altai alpine meadow and tundra |
China, Kazakstan, Mongolia, Russia |
Palearctic |
Montane Grasslands and Shrublands |
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Altai montane forest and forest steppe |
China, Kazakstan, Mongolia, Russia |
Palearctic |
Temperate Coniferous Forests |
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Altai steppe and semi-desert |
Kazahkstan |
Palearctic |
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Da Hinggan-Dzhagdy Mountains conifer forests |
China, Russia |
Palearctic |
Temperate Coniferous Forests |
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Daurian forest steppe |
China, Mongolia, Russia |
Palearctic |
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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East Siberian taiga |
Russia |
Palearctic |
Boreal Forests/Taiga |
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Gobi Lakes Valley desert steppe |
Mongolia |
Palearctic |
Deserts and Xeric Shrublands |
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Great Lakes Basin desert steppe |
Mongolia, Russia |
Palearctic |
Deserts and Xeric Shrublands |
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Helanshan montane conifer forests |
China |
Palearctic |
Temperate Coniferous Forests |
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Junggar Basin semi-desert |
China, Kazakstan, Mongolia |
Palearctic |
Deserts and Xeric Shrublands |
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Kazakh forest steppe |
Russia, Kazakhstan |
Palearctic |
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Khangai Mountains alpine meadow |
Mongolia |
Palearctic |
Montane Grasslands and Shrublands |
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Khangai Mountains conifer forests |
Mongolia |
Palearctic |
Temperate Coniferous Forests |
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Mongolian-Manchurian grassland |
China, Mongolia |
Palearctic |
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Sayan Alpine meadows and tundra |
Mongolia, Russia |
Palearctic |
Montane Grasslands and Shrublands |
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Sayan Intermontane steppe |
Russia |
Palearctic |
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Sayan montane conifer forests |
Mongolia, Russia |
Palearctic |
Temperate Coniferous Forests |
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Selenge-Orkhon forest steppe |
Mongolia, Russia |
Palearctic |
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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South Siberian forest steppe |
Russia |
Palearctic |
Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands |
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Trans-Baikal Bald Mountain tundra |
Russia |
Palearctic |
Tundra |
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Trans-Baikal conifer forests |
Russia, Mongolia |
Palearctic |
Boreal Forests/Taiga |
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Attributes / relations provided by ♦ 1Felisa A. Smith, S. Kathleen Lyons, S. K. Morgan Ernest, Kate E. Jones, Dawn M. Kaufman, Tamar Dayan, Pablo A. Marquet, James H. Brown, and John P. Haskell. 2003. Body mass of late Quaternary mammals. Ecology 84:3403 ♦ 2Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109 ♦ 3Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027 ♦ 4International Flea Database♦ 5Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database |
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0
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