Thomas's pika (''Ochotona thomasi''), also known as the Thomas-pika, is a species of small mammal in the

pika A pika ( or ; archaically spelled pica) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal found in Asia and North America. With short limbs, very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative, the rabbit, but wi ...

family, Ochotonidae. The

fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...

on its upper body is reddish brown in summer, and mouse grey in winter. It is a generalist herbivore threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...

, being found on isolated peaks of the eastern

Qilian Mountains The Qilian Mountains (, also romanized as Tsilien; Mongghul: Chileb), together with the Altyn-Tagh (Altun Shan) also known as Nan Shan (, literally "Southern Mountains"), as it is to the south of Hexi Corridor, is a northern outlier of the Kunlu ...

Qinghai Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...

, Gansu, and northwestern

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, in China. The International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Endangered Species assessed the animal as insufficiently known in 1994, as

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

in 1996, and as a species of

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

in 2008.

Taxonomy

Thomas's pika is a

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispe ...

species (having no subspecies), that was first described in 1948 by the Russian

zoologist Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and d ...

A. I. Argyropulo, in the journal ''Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta''. He named it after the British

mammalogist In zoology, mammalogy is the study of mammals – a class of vertebrates with characteristics such as homeothermic metabolism, fur, four-chambered hearts, and complex nervous system In biology, the nervous system is the highly complex part ...

Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas (21 February 1858 – 16 June 1929) was a British zoologist. Career Thomas worked at the Natural History Museum on mammals, describing about 2,000 new species and subspecies for the first time. He was appoin ...

. Thomas's pika is similar to the Gansu pika ('' Ochotona cansus''), with a similar greatest skull length, but can be distinguished by its smaller skull and

cheek bone In the human skull, the zygomatic bone (from grc, ζῠγόν, zugón, yoke), also called cheekbone or malar bone, is a paired irregular bone which articulates with the maxilla, the temporal bone, the sphenoid bone and the frontal bone. It is si ...

width. In 1974, Feng and Kao synonymised ''O. t. cilanica'' Bannikov 1960 with ''Ochotona thomasi.'' According to ''

Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, published in late 2005, ...

'', ''O. ciliana'' Bannikov, 1940 is currently its only synonym.

Description

Thomas's pika measures in length, and weighs . The fragile skull is broader anteriorly, and smaller, flatter, and narrower than other pika species. The greatest skull length is . The anterior palatine foramen (funnel-shaped opening in the bony plate of the skull, located in the roof of the mouth, immediately behind the

incisor teeth Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, wher ...

where blood vessels and nerves pass) and the palatal foramen are attached, and there is no oval foramen above the

frontal bone The frontal bone is a bone in the human skull. The bone consists of two portions.'' Gray's Anatomy'' (1918) These are the vertically oriented squamous part, and the horizontally oriented orbital part, making up the bony part of the forehead, pa ...

. The cheek bones are wide, and the ears measure in length. It has elongated, convex auditory bullae. The summer dorsal

pelage Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket ...

is reddish brown, and the

underparts Standard anatomical terms of location are used to unambiguously describe the anatomy of animals, including humans. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

are yellow tinged or light white in colour. The winter dorsal pelage is mouse grey in colour, and the hairs have noticeable black tips. The hindfeet are long.

Distribution and habitat

Endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to China, Thomas's pika is rare, and no intensive population studies have been conducted. It is found on the secluded mountains of the eastern Qilian Mountain range in

, Gansu, and northwestern

. It inhabits meadows and isolated hilly, shrubby forests of '' Caragana jubata'', the shrubby cinquefoil ('' Potentilla fruticosa''), '' Rhododendron'', and the willow species (''

Salix Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

''), Thomas's pika is sympatric (existing in the same geographic area and thus frequently encountering) with the Gansu pika which also overlaps in part of its range with the Moupin pika ('' Ochotona thibetana'') but there is no overlap in the ranges of Thomas's and Moupin pikas.

Behavior and ecology

Thomas's pika is a diurnal burrowing species. It is a generalist herbivore, and may live in small family groups. Although its ecology is not well known, it is thought to be similar to that of the Gansu pika. Details about its behaviour and reproduction are also unknown.

Status and conservation

In 1994, Thomas's pika was assessed as insufficiently known on the

IUCN Red List of Endangered Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolog ...

. In 1996 it was warranted a

near-threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

status, and it nearly even met the vulnerable criteria (A2c + 3c) by both the IUCN and the Red List of China's Vertebrates due to a declining population of over 30% in the last ten years, in the projected ten years, or in three generations, determined based on a decreasing extant of occurrence, area of occupancy, or quality of habitat. It was re-assessed by IUCN in 2008 and rated as a species of

. This is because, although very little is known about its status, it is a widespread species. The current state of its population trend is unclear. It may be affected by killing due to pest control measures in its range although its effects to the species is unknown. There are no conservation measures to protect Thomas's pika.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas's pika Mammals of China Mammals described in 1948 Pikas Taxonomy articles created by Polbot