Forrest pika

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Forrest pika
Systematics
Subclass : Higher mammals (Eutheria)
Superordinate : Euarchontoglires
Order : Hare-like (Lagomorpha)
Family : Ochotonidae
Genre : Pika ( Ochotona )
Type : Forrest pika
Scientific name
Ochotona forresti
Thomas , 1923

The Forrest-Pfeifhase ( Ochotona forresti ) is a species of mammal from the family of the Pfeifhasen within the hare-like . Its distribution area extends from northwestern Yunnan and southeastern Tibet in the People's Republic of China to northern Myanmar .

features

The Forrest-Pfeifhase is a medium-sized species of the pika and reaches a body length of 15.0 to 19.0 centimeters with a weight of about 85 to 150 grams. The rear foot length is 22 to 34 millimeters. It resembles various other species of the genus Ochotona both in its body size and in the essential features of the skull. The species is very variable in color, the variations range from melanistic forms (formerly classified as Ochotona nigra ) to lighter forms. Mostly he has a dark or light red-brown summer coat, which turns dark-gray-brown in winter, with the belly side being slightly lighter than the back side or gray. The hair above the neck gland is darker brown, conspicuous and characteristic of this species are the dark gray zones behind the ears, which meet in the neck. The ears are small and rounded with a length of 17 to 25 millimeters. They are monochrome and have a light to white border.

The skull is medium in size and reaches a length of 34 to 38 millimeters, a width of 18 to 20 millimeters and a height of 12 to 15 millimeters. The incisor window and the palate window merge and form a single, pear-shaped opening. The tympani bubbles are medium in size. Compared to the Moupin Pika ( Ochotona thibetana ), the skull is wider and the snout more protruding.

distribution

Distribution area of Ochotona forresti

The distribution area of ​​the Forrest Pika extends from northwestern Yunnan and southeastern Tibet in the People's Republic of China to northern Myanmar .

The Forrest Pika lives in the sun-facing and wooded mountain slopes with coniferous and shrub forests at altitudes between 2,600 and 4,400 meters. In its habitat it lives partly sympatric with Ochotona thibetana , Ochotona roylei , Ochotona gloveri and Ochotona macrotis .

Way of life

Very little information is available about the way of life of this pika. The habitat is in mountainous regions of the high mountains at an altitude of 2600 to 4400 meters and it is believed that it digs burrows into the ground. The typical vegetation of these regions consists of coniferous forests, mixed forest areas and bushes. Like other pigeons, the forrest pika feeds on green plants. Young animals are born in July, subadult animals have been observed from August to October. Although there are no concrete surveys on population densities, it is assumed that the animals are generally found in low densities.

Systematics

The Forrest Pfeifhase is assigned to the Pfeifhasen (genus Ochotona ) as an independent species . The first scientific description comes from Oldfield Thomas from 1923, who described him under his name, which is still valid today, from the Lijiang region in Yunnan. The species was named after the British collector George Forrest , who was mainly active in China.

The species was partially assigned to the species Ochotona thibetana , Ochotona roylei and Ochotona pusilla as a subspecies or synonym due to the similarities and great variation in size and color . The species status was confirmed via craniological and molecular biological characteristics. It is sometimes assumed that it is either a sister species to Ochotona erythrotis and Ochotona gloveri . By Andrei Alexandrowitsch Lissowski , both the Gaoligong pigeon hare ( Ochotona gaoligongensis ) and the black pigeon hare ( Ochotona nigritia ) were classified as synonyms and melanistic color variations of the Forrest pigeon hare, and both are no longer separate species in the Handbook of the Mammals of the World considered. Lissowski points out that there are no craniometric differences between these forms and the Forrest Pika. Another synonym is Ochotona osgoodi , which was previously considered a subspecies of the Moupin pika.

Within the species, the nominate form describes two subspecies:

  • Ochotona forresti forresti Thomas , 1923: nominate form; occurs in the greater part of the distribution area.
  • Ochotona forresti duoxionglaensis Chen Xiaocheng & Li Wenjing , 2009: occurs in Motuo and Mainling in the Namcha Barwa Himal in the loop of Brahmaputra in the southeast of the Tibet Autonomous Region . It is slightly larger than the nominate form and has a larger skull. Sometimes this subspecies is also regarded as a synonym of O. thibetana and according to current results of craniological data analyzes, an assignment to the big-eared pika ( O. macrotis ) is being discussed.

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 its presumably large population and large distribution area. Endangerments for the species are not known.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j A.A. Lissovsky: Forrest's Pika - Ochotona forresti. 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; 58. ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 .
  2. ↑ a b c d e Joseph A. Chapman, John EC Flux (Ed.): Rabbits, Hares and Pikas. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. (PDF; 11.3 MB) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Gland 1990; Pp. 31-32. ISBN 2-8317-0019-1 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Ochotona forresti in the Red List of Threatened Species of the IUCN 2017-3. Listed by: AT Smith, S. Liu, 2008. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  4. ↑ a b Black Pika. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, 2008; P. 284. ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 .
  5. ↑ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Ochotona (Conothoa) forresti in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
  6. ^ "Forrest" In: Bo Beolens, Michael Grayson, Michael Watkins: The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2009; P. 139; ISBN 978-0-8018-9304-9 .
  7. ^ A b Andrey A. Lissovsky: Taxonomic revision of pikas Ochotona (Lagomorpha, Mammalia) at the species level. In: Mammalia 2014; 78 (2): 199-216. doi : 10.1515 / mammalia-2012-0134
  8. ↑ Deyan Ge, Andrey A. Lisovsky, Lin Xia, Cheng Cheng, Andrew T. Smith, Qisen Yang: Reevaluation of several taxa of Chinese lagomorphs (Mammalia: Lagomorpha) described on the basis of pelage phenotype variation. Mammalian Biology - Journal of Mammalian Science 77 (2), March 2012; Pp. 113-123. doi : 10.1016 / j.mambio.2011.09.009
  9. ↑ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Ochotona (Ochotona) thibetana osgoodi in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
  10. ↑ Chen Xiaocheng, Li Wenjing: A new subspecies of Ochotona forresti in southeastern Tibet, China. ACTA Theriologica Sinica 29 (1), 2009; Pp. 101-105. ( Abstract )
  11. ↑ Andrey A. Lissovsky, Molly McDonough, Nishma Dahal, Wei Jin, Shaoying Liu, Luis A. Ruedas: A new subspecies of large-eared pika, Ochotona macrotis (Lagomorpha: Ochotonidae), from the Eastern Himalaya. Russian Journal of Theriolology 16 (1), 2017; Pp. 30-42. ( Full text ).

literature

Web links

Commons : Ochotona forresti  - collection of images, videos and audio files