The Afghan pika (''Ochotona rufescens'') is a species of small
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
in the pika family,
Ochotonidae.
It is found in
Afghanistan,
Iran,
Pakistan and
Turkmenistan and the
IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
lists it as being of "
least concern".
Taxonomy
The Afghan pika was first described by
John Edward Gray in 1842, the
type locality
Type locality may refer to:
* Type locality (biology)
* Type locality (geology)
See also
* Local (disambiguation)
* Locality (disambiguation)
{{disambiguation ...
being "India, Cabul, Rocky Hills near Baker Tomb at about 6000 or 8000 feet
a. 1829 or 2438 melevation", (probably referring to Kabul in Afghanistan). Three
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
are recognised, ''Ochotona r. rufescens'', ''Ochotona r. regina'' and ''Ochotona r. shukurovoi''.
Description
The Afghan pika is a
lagomorph, a small mammal related to rabbits and hares, and has a small head with rounded ears, short, densely furred legs and furred soles to the feet. The fur is reddish-brown with a cream-coloured collar round the neck and paler underparts.
Distribution and habitat
The Afghan pika occurs in mountainous regions of
Afghanistan,
Iran,
Pakistan and southwestern
Turkmenistan at altitudes between . It is found in rocky desert habitats where vegetation cover is sparse and covers less than 60% of the ground, also in
juniper
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...
woodland.
Behaviour
The Afghan pika lives in a burrow system. It is diurnal, with peak activity during the morning.
[Aulagnier S.; P. Haffner, A. J. Mitchell-Jones, F. Moutou & J. Zima (2009) ''Mammals of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East'', A&C Black, London.] It feeds on plant material including ''
Ephedra'', ''
Artemisia'' and
thistles. Some stems and leaves are cut into lengths and dried in the open air before being stored in the burrow. The breeding season lasts from March to September during which time a female may have five litters averaging six offspring.
Juveniles born early in the season mature fast enough to have young themselves the same year.
Status
The Afghan pika has a wide range and the population appears to be steady. Although it typically lives in rocky semi-desert habitat, it is able to adapt to living at the edge of cultivated land, in orchards and even in field walls and the walls of houses made of
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
. In some regions it is considered a pest as it feeds on crops and damages the bark of fruit trees, and in these areas it may be persecuted. The
International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the animal as being of "
least concern" but an isolated population on the
Small Balkhan Ridge
Small may refer to:
Science and technology
* SMALL, an ALGOL-like programming language
* Small (anatomy), the lumbar region of the back
* ''Small'' (journal), a nano-science publication
* <small>, an HTML element that defines smaller text ...
may be endangered. The animal has been domesticated and used in research, particularly in France and Japan.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q1321102
Mammals described in 1842
Taxa named by John Edward Gray
Fauna of Iran
Mammals of Afghanistan
Mammals of Pakistan
Pikas
Taxonomy articles created by Polbot