Manchurian Pika

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Manchurian Pika
Systematics
Subclass : Higher mammals (Eutheria)
Superordinate : Euarchontoglires
Order : Hare-like (Lagomorpha)
Family : Ochotonidae
Genre : Pika ( Ochotona )
Type : Manchurian Pika
Scientific name
Ochotona mantchurica
Thomas , 1909

The Manchurian Pfeifhase ( Ochotona mantchurica ) is a species of mammal from the family of the Pfeifhasen (Ochotonidae) within the hare-like (Lagomorpha). Its distribution area is in the area of ​​the Hinggan Mountains in northeast Inner Mongolia and the north of Heilongjiang Province in the People's Republic of China and in the area of ​​the Shilka and Argun rivers in southeastern Transbaikalia in Russia .

features

The Manchurian Pfeifhase is a medium-sized Pika with a body length of 14 to 22 centimeters and a weight of 110 to 160 grams. The rear foot length is 22 to 32 millimeters. The back color is ocher to reddish brown with a darker back stripe. In some populations , the fur is interspersed with black tips of hair. The peritoneum is also ocher in color. The winter fur is grayish brown with a sand-colored or light ocher-colored belly side. The hair around the neck gland forms a darker patch. The ears are rounded and have a white border, they reach a length of 17 to 26 millimeters.

The skull is medium in size with a length of 37 to 46 millimeters, a width of 19 to 23 and a height of 13 to 16 millimeters. It is blunted and the incisor window and the palate window are separated from each other. Compared to the skull of the Northern Pika ( Ochotona hyperborea ), the lower jaw of the Manchurian Pika is higher.

distribution

The Manchurian pika lives in three subspecies and several populations in the area of ​​the Hinggan Mountains : in the northeast of Inner Mongolia and the north of the Heilongjiang Province in the People's Republic of China , as well as in the area of ​​the lower reaches of the Shilka and Argun rivers and in southeastern Transbaikalia in Russia .

Way of life

The habitat of the Manchurian pigeon hare is characterized by stony rocks with little vegetation at heights of 400 to 1300 meters in the vicinity of dry steppes or deciduous and coniferous forest areas of the taiga and mountain tundra . He is a typical inhabitant of these rocky regions and lives mainly in crevices and cavities. The animals are diurnal, but avoid the strong solar radiation at noon and times with strong winds. They feed on green parts of plants and collect them from July to form balls and let them dry in crevices or under stones. Outside of their hiding places, the animals move forward running and jumping, leaving behind recognizable stretches, areas with feces pills (latrines) and the remains of old hay bales. The activity outside of the hiding places and also the communication between the animals by whistling is rarer than that of the Northern Pika. In winter the animals almost never leave their burrows and move forward in tunnels in the snow.

The breeding season of the animals begins in May and pregnant females are found in June and July and the animals probably only give birth once a year. They build their nests under stones and give birth to two to six young per litter.

Systematics

The Manchurian Pfeifhase is assigned as an independent species to the Pfeifhasen (genus Ochotona ) and the subgenus Ochotona . The first scientific description of the species comes from Oldfield Thomas from 1913, who described it as the subspecies Ochotona (Pika) hyperborea mantchurica from the area of ​​the Hinggan Mountains (Khinghan), into which the Trans-Siberian Railway enters the mountains, and thus the northern part Pigeon hares ( Ochotona hyperborea ) assigned. For a long time it was regarded as a subspecies of the northern pigeon hare and partly also assigned to the Altai pigeon hare (Ochotona alpina), but in 2013 by Andrei Alexandrowitsch Lissowski together with the Korean pigeon hare ( Ochotona coreana ) based on molecular biological data of the mitochondrial DNA in its revision of the whistle hare system as well as in its processing in the Handbook of the Mammals of the World from 2016 as an independent species. It is closely related to the Northern Pfeifhase and the Hoffmann Pfeifhase ( Ochotona hoffmanni ), the three species are understood as allospecies .

Together with the nominate form , three subspecies are distinguished:

  • Ochotona mantchurica mantchurica Thomas , 1909: nominate form; in the main massif of the Hinggan Mountains and the northern part of the Lesser Hinggan Mountains in northeast Inner Mongolia and the north of Heilongjiang Province.
  • Ochotona mantchurica scorodumovi Skalon , 1934: in the area of ​​the lower reaches of the Shilka and Argun rivers in southeastern Transbaikalia.
  • Ochotona mantchurica loukashkini Lissowski , 2015: southern part of the Little Hinggan Mountains

Hazard and protection

The species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as not endangered ("least concern") due to the regular and frequent occurrence in its habitat. There is no data available on the populations of the species, and there are no risks to the existence of the species.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j A.A. Lissovsky: Manchurian Pika - Ochotona mantchurica. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editors): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016; Pp. 51-52. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  2. ↑ a b Ochotona mantchurica in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2017-3. Posted by: Andrew T. Smith , A. Lissovsky, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2018.
  3. ↑ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Ochotona (Pika) hyperborea mantchurica in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
  4. ^ Andrey A. Lissovsky: Taxonomic revision of pikas Ochotona (Lagomorpha, Mammalia) at the species level. Mammalia 78 (2), 2013; Pp. 199-216. doi : 10.1515 / mammalia-2012-0134

literature

  • AA Lissovsky: Manchurian Pika - Ochotona mantchurica. In: Don E. Wilson, TE Lacher, Jr., Russell A. Mittermeier (editors): Handbook of the Mammals of the World: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1. (HMW, Volume 6), Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016; Pp. 51-52. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .

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