Apika (/ˈpaɪkə/PY-kə,[3] or/ˈpiːkə/PEE-kə)[4] is a small, mountain-dwellingmammal native to Asia and North America. With short limbs, a very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative therabbit, but with short, rounded ears.[5] Thelarge-eared pika of theHimalayas and nearby mountains lives at elevations of more than 6,000 m (20,000 ft).
The namepika appears to be derived from theTunguspika,[6] and the scientific nameOchotona is derived from theMongolian wordogotno, оготно, which means pika.[7] It is used for any member of theOchotonidae (/ɒkətoʊnɪdeɪ/),[8] afamily within theorder oflagomorphs, the order which also includes theLeporidae (rabbits andhares). They are the smallest animal in the lagomorph group.[9] Only onegenus,Ochotona[8] (/ɒkəˈtoʊnə/ or/ɒtʃəˈtoʊnə/), is extant within the family, covering 37species, though many fossil genera are known. Another species, theSardinian pika, belonging to the separate genusProlagus, has become extinct within the last 2,000 years owing to human activity.
Pikas prefer rocky slopes and graze on a range of plants, primarily grasses, flowers, and young stems. In the autumn, they pull hay, soft twigs, and other stores of food under rocks to eat during the long, cold winter.[10] The pika is also known as the whistling hare because of its high-pitchedalarm call it gives when alarmed. The two species found in North America are theAmerican pika, found primarily in the mountains of the western United States and far southwestern Canada, and thecollared pika of northernBritish Columbia, theYukon, westernNorthwest Territories andAlaska.
Pikas are native to cold climates inAsia andNorth America. Most species live on rocky mountainsides, where numerous crevices are available for their shelter, although some pikas also construct crude burrows. A few burrowing species are native to opensteppe land. In the mountains ofEurasia, pikas often share their burrows withsnowfinches, which build their nests there.[11] Changing temperatures have forced some pika populations to restrict their ranges to even higher elevations.[12]
Pikas are small mammals, with short limbs and rounded ears. They are about 15 to 23 cm (5.9 to 9.1 in) in body length and weigh between 120 and 350 g (4.2 and 12.3 oz), depending on species.
These animals areherbivores and feed on a wide variety of plant matter, includingforbs,grasses,sedges, shrub twigs, moss and lichens. Easily digestible food is processed in the gastrointestinal tract and expelled as regular feces. But in order to get nutrients out of hard to digest fiber, pika ferment fiber in the cecum (in the GI tract) and then expel the contents ascecotropes, which are reingested (cecotrophy). The cecotropes are then absorbed in the small intestine to utilize the nutrients.
Collared pikas have been known to store dead birds in their burrows for food during winter and eat the feces of other animals.[13]
As with other lagomorphs, pikas have gnawingincisors and nocanines, although they have fewermolars than rabbits. They have adental formula of2.0.3.21.0.2.3 = 26.[14] Another similarity that pikas share with other lagomorphs is that the bottom of their paws are covered with fur and lack paw pads.[15]
Rock-dwelling pikas have small litters of fewer than five young, whilst the burrowing species tend to give birth to more young and to breed more frequently, possibly owing to a greater availability of resources in their native habitats. The young are born altricial (eyes and ears closed, no fur) after agestation period of between 25 and 30 days.[11]
Pikas are active during daylight (diurnal) or twilight hours (crepuscular), with higher-elevation species generally being more active during the daytime. They show their peak activity just before the winter season. Pikas do nothibernate and remain active throughout the winter by traveling in tunnels under rocks and snow and eating dried plants that they have stored.[16] Rock-dwelling pikas exhibit two methods of foraging: the first involves direct consumption of food, and the second is characterized by the gathering of plants to store in a "haypile" of cached plants.[17]
The impact of human activity on thetundra ecosystems where pikas live has been recorded dating back to the 1970s.[18] Rather than hibernate during winter, pikas forage for grasses and other forms of plant matter and stash these findings in protected dens in a process called "haying". They eat the dried plants during the winter.[19] When pikas mistake humans as predators, they may respond to humans as they do to other species that do prey on pikas. Such interactions with humans have been linked to pikas having reduced amounts of foraging time, consequentially limiting the amount of food they can stockpile for winter months.[20] Pikas prefer foraging in temperatures below 25 °C (77 °F), so they generally spend their time in shaded regions and out of direct sunlight when temperatures are high.[20] A link has also been found between temperature increases and lost foraging time, where for every increase of 1 °C (1.8 °F) to the ambient temperature in alpine landscapes home to pikas, those pikas lose 3% of their foraging time.[20]
Eurasian pikas commonly live in family groups and share duties of gathering food and keeping watch. Some species are territorial. North American pikas (O. princeps andO. collaris) areasocial, leading solitary lives outside the breeding season.[13]
Pikas have distinctcalls, which vary in duration. The call can be short and quick, a little longer and more drawn out or long songs. The short calls are an example of geographic variation. The pikas determine the appropriate time to make short calls by listening for cues for sound localization.[21] The calls are used for individual recognition, predator warning signals, territory defense, or as a way to attract potential mates.[22] There are also different calls depending on the season. In the spring the songs become more frequent during the breeding season. In late summer the vocalizations become short calls. Through various studies, the acoustic characteristics of the vocalizations can be a useful taxonomic tool.[23]
The average lifespan of pikas in the wild is roughly seven years. A pika's age may be determined by the number of adhesion lines on theperiosteal bone on the lower jaw. The lifespan does not differ between the sexes.[24]
Many fossil forms ofOchotona are described in the literature, from theMiocene epoch to the earlyHolocene (extinct species) and present (16.4-0Ma[1]). They lived in Europe, Asia, and North America.Some species listed below are common for Eurasia and North America (O. gromovi,O. tologoica,O. zazhigini, and probablyO. whartoni).
extinct small pikas similar to theO. pusilla group (Pleistocene)[26][30]
Paleontologists have also described multiple forms of pika not referred to specific species (Ochotona indet.) or not certainly identified (O.cf.antiqua,O. cf.cansus,O. cf.daurica,O. cf.eximia,O. cf.gromovi,O. cf.intermedia,O. cf.koslowi,O. cf.lagrelii,O. cf.nihewanica). The statuses ofOchotona (Proochotona)kirgisica andO. spelaeus are uncertain.[1]
The "pusilla" group of pikas is characterized by archaic (plesiomorphic) cheek teeth and small size.[30]
The North American species migrated from Eurasia. They invaded the New World twice:
O. spanglei during the latest Miocene or early Pliocene, followed by a roughly three-million-year-long gap in the known North American pika record[26]
O. whartoni (giant pika) and small pikas via theBering Land Bridge during the earliest Pleistocene[26]
Ochotonacf.whartoni and small pikas of theO. pusilla group are also known from Siberia. The extant,endemic North American species appeared in the Pleistocene. The North American collared pika (O. collaris) andAmerican pika (O. princeps) have been suggested to have descended from the same ancestor as the steppe pika (O. pusilla).[26]
The range ofOchotona was larger in the past, with both extinct and extant species inhabiting Western Europe and Eastern North America, areas that are currently free of pikas. Pleistocene fossils of the extant steppe pikaO. pusilla currently native to Asia have been found also in many countries of Europe from theUnited Kingdom to Russia and fromItaly to Poland, and the Asiatic extant northern pikaO. hyperborea in one location in the middle Pleistocene United States.[1]
Ochotonids appeared in Asia between the late Eocene and the early Oligocene, and continued to develop along with increased distribution ofC3 grasses in previously forest dominated areas under the "climatic optimum" from the late Oligocene to middle Miocene. They thrived in Eurasia, North America, and even Africa. The peak of their diversity occurred during the period from the early Miocene to middle Miocene. Most of them became extinct during the transition from the Miocene to Pliocene, which was accompanied by an increase in diversity of theleporids. It has been proposed that this switch between ochotonids and larger leporids was caused by expansion ofC4 plants (particularly thePoaceae) related to global cooling in the late Miocene, since extant pikas reveal a strong preference forC3 plants (Asteraceae,Rosaceae, andFabaceae, many of them C3). Replacement of large areas of forests by open grassland first started probably in North America and is called sometimes "nature's green revolution".[1]
^"American Pikas".National Park Service. August 21, 2018. RetrievedJanuary 18, 2024.
^Smith, Andrew T.; Charlotte H., Charlotte H.; Alves, Paulo C.; Hackländer, Klaus (January 1, 2018).Lagomorphs: Pikas, Rabbits, and Hares of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 69.ISBN978-1421423401.
^Brown, R. W., R. S. Johnston, and K. Van Cleve. "Rehabilitation problems ofArctic and alpine regions."Reclamation of drastically disturbed lands (1978): 23-44.
^Dearing, M. Denise. "The function of haypiles of pikas (Ochotona princeps)."Journal of Mammalogy 78.4 (1997): 1156-1163. APA
^Conner, Douglas A. (1982-02-25). "Geographic Variation in Short Calls of Pikas (Ochotona princeps)".Journal of Mammalogy.63 (1):48–52.doi:10.2307/1380670.JSTOR1380670.
^Somers, Preston (1973). "Dialects in southern Rocky Mountain pikas,Ochotona princeps (Lagomorpha)".Animal Behaviour.21 (1):124–137.doi:10.1016/S0003-3472(73)80050-8.
^Barker, Jennifer M; Boonstra, Rudy; Schulte-Hostedde, Albrecht I (2003-10-01). "Age determination in yellow-pine chipmunks (Tamias amoenus): a comparison of eye lens masses and bone sections".Canadian Journal of Zoology.81 (10):1774–1779.doi:10.1139/z03-173.
^abcdefghijkFostowicz-Frelik, Łucja; Frelik, Grzegorz; Gasparik, Mihály (October 2010). "Morphological phylogeny of pikas (Lagomorpha:Ochotona), with a description of a new species from the Pliocene/Pleistocene transition of Hungary".Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia.159:97–117.doi:10.1635/053.159.0107.JSTOR41446115.S2CID83700561.
^abcdefgErbajeva, Margarita A.; Mead, Jim I.; Swift, Sandra L. (2003)."Evolution and development of Asian and North American ochotonids"(PDF).Occasional Papers in Earth Sciences No. 5:33–34. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on March 31, 2014. RetrievedApril 13, 2014.3rd INTERNATIONAL MAMMOTH CONFERENCE, 2003: PROGRAM AND ABSTRACTS, Edited by John E. Storer
^Tiunov, Mikhail P.; Gusev, Alexander E. (2021). "A new extinct ochotonid genus from the Late Pleistocene of the Russian Far East".Palaeoworld.30 (3):562–572.doi:10.1016/j.palwor.2020.08.003.
^Hordijk, Kees (2010).Perseverance of pikas in the Miocene : interplay of climate and competition in the evolution of Spanish Ochotonidae (Lagomorpha, Mammalia). Vol. 333. Departement Aardwetenschappen.hdl:1874/197550.ISBN978-90-5744-194-3.document type Dissertationfull text{{cite book}}:|journal= ignored (help);External link in|quote= (help)
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^Additional contributors to utilized records of Paleobiology Database (authorizers supplying these records) include John Alroy, Jonathan Marcot.
^Belyaeva, E. I. (1948).Catalogue of Tertiary Fossil Sites of the Land Mammals in the U.S.S.R.
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^Deng, T.; Wang, X.; Fortelius, M.; Li, Q.; Wang, Y.; Tseng, Z. J.; Takeuchi, G. T.; Saylor, J. E.; Säilä, L. K.; Xie, G. (2011). "Out of Tibet: Pliocene woolly rhino suggests high-plateau origin of Ice Age megaherbivores".Science.333 (6047):1285–1288.Bibcode:2011Sci...333.1285D.doi:10.1126/science.1206594.PMID21885780.S2CID8913866.
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^Frazier, M. K. (1977). "New Records of Neofiber leonardi (Rodentia: Cricetidae) and the Paleoecology of the Genus".Journal of Mammalogy.58 (3):368–373.doi:10.2307/1379335.JSTOR1379335.
^Grady, F.; Garton, E. R. (2000). "Paleontology and historic field trip of the John Guilday Cave Preserve (Trout Rock)".Bulletin – West Virginia Speleological Survey.14:241–244.
^Janossy, D. (1970). "Ein neuer Eomyide (Rodentia, Mammalia) aus dem Ältestpleistozän ("Oberes Villafrankium", Villanyium) des Osztramos (Nordostungarn); (A new Eomyid (Rodentia, Mammalia) from the lowermost Pleistocene (upper Villafranchian) from Osztramos mountain (Northeastern Hungary)".Annales Historico-Naturales Musei Nationalis Hungarici.62:99–113.
^Janossy, D. (1986).Pleistocene vertebrate faunas of Hungary. Vol. 8. Amsterdam: Elsevier.ISBN978-0-444-99526-1.{{cite book}}:|journal= ignored (help)
^Kurten, B.; Anderson, E. (1980).Pleistocene mammals of North America. Columbia University Press.ISBN978-0231037334.
^Qiu, Z. (1987). "Neogene micromammals of China".Whyte, P., ed. Paleoenvironment of East Asia from the Mid-Tertiary, Second International Conference on the Paleoenvironment of East Asia.77 (1–2):834–848.
^Rasmussen, D. L. (1974). "New Quaternary mammal localities in the upper Clark Fork River valley, western Montana".Northwest Geology.3:62–70.
^Sotnikova, M.V.; Dodonov, A.E.; Pen'kov, A.V. (1997). "Upper Cenozoic bio-magnetic stratigraphy of Central Asian mammalian localities".Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology.133 (3–4):243–258.Bibcode:1997PPP...133..243S.doi:10.1016/s0031-0182(97)00078-3.
^Terzea, E. (1996). "Biochronology of the Pleistocene deposits at Betfia (Bihor, Romania)".Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia.39 (1):531–540.
^Winkler, A. J.; Grady, F. (1990). "The middle Pleistocene rodentAtopomys (Cricetidae: Arvicolinae) from the eastern and south-central United States".Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.10 (4):484–490.Bibcode:1990JVPal..10..484W.doi:10.1080/02724634.1990.10011831.
^Additional contributors to utilized records of Paleobiology Database (authorizers supplying these records) include John Alroy, Anna Behrensmeyer, Will Clyde, Alan Turner, Mark Uhen.