Pallas's pika (''Ochotona pallasi''), also known as the Mongolian pika, is a species of small mammals in the pika family,

Ochotonidae A pika ( , or ) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal 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 the rabbit, but with short, rounded ears. ...

. It is found mainly in the mountains of western

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

Description

Pallas's pika can range from anywhere between in weight and can grow up to long. Pallas's pikas have round bodies, very short limbs, and small rounded ears. They will also have different pelage coloration depending on the time of the year. They become lighter in the summer and much darker in the winter.

Ecology

Distribution and habitat

''O. p. pallasi'' can be geographically separated from the other three subspecies. ''O. p. pallasi'' is largely distributed in Kazakhstan and the other large group ''O. p. pricei'', are distributed along Mongolia and bordering territories. The range for both these groups extends all the way between the Betpak Dala Desert located in Kazakhastan to the Helan Shan Range. The remaining two, which have been little-studied, ''O. p. argentata'' collected mostly at the Helan Shan Range and the ''O. p. sunidica'' found mostly near the Chinese-Mongolian border, both of which found in rocky habitats with very restricted ranges.

Diet

Pallas's pikas are much smaller in body size than other herbivores that usually share the same environment. Their body size allows them to consume more of the lower level vegetation, giving them more of an advantage over larger herbivores, such as livestock. Like other pikas, Pallas's pika is

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

and saves grass in the summer to eat in the winter. They often construct haypiles with this stash, but some populations prefer to keep their stores under rocks. Their diet consists mostly of grasses, however their diet does range in flowers as well as stems. Like all lagomorphs (rabbits, hares, pikas), Pallas's pika creates, expels & eats

cecotrope Cecotropes (also caecotropes, cecotrophs, caecotrophs, cecal pellets, soft feces, or night feces) are a nutrient-filled package created in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract that is expelled and eaten by many animals (such as rabbits, guinea pigs, ...

s ( cecotrophy) to get more nutrition from its food.

Ecosystem roles

Pallas's pika mostly are found in more arid type climates. They have shown to play a role in not only

seed dispersal In spermatophyte plants, seed dispersal is the movement, spread or transport of seeds away from the parent plant. Plants have limited mobility and rely upon a variety of dispersal vectors to transport their seeds, including both abiotic vectors, ...

and vegetation, but the alteration of site conditions. This alteration through burrowing, has led to plant growth and increased soil nutrients. This is a clear representation of allogenic ecosystem engineering.

Mating and reproduction

Pallas's pikas form monogamous pairs. The averages litter size is 5, with 2.7 litters per year; reproduction however only occurs in the summer. The young wean at 19 days and are sexually mature at 4 weeks.

Physiology

The Pallas's pika and many other subspecies show a mechanism called microbial nitrogen fixation. This is a very important mechanism consisting of an isolation of a bacterial community in the cecum and colon of the Pika called the nifH gene. Since Pallas's pika's diet consist of such poor feed, they need to have an adaptation such as this in order to provide the essential amino acids to their diet. These essential amino acids are supplied by the microorganisms produced by microbial nitrogen fixations.

Phylogeny and taxonomy

There are four defined taxa: ''O. p. pallasi'', ''O. p. pricei'', ''O. p. sunidica'', and ''O. argentata''. Mitochondrial studies show that the two larger defined taxa of ''O. pallasi'' are paraphyletic to ''O. argentata''. However, morphometric data shows that the taxa ''O. p pricei'' and ''O. p. pallasii'' show similar traits to one other than to ''O. argentata''. ''O. argentata'' differ in that they show a rufous type coloration in the summer and a more silver type coloration in the winter. As a species, Pallas's pika is common. However, ''O. p. hamica'', ''O. p. helanshanensis'' and ''O. p. sundica'' are rated as "

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

" and "

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

", respectively, on the IUCN Red List.

References

* Grzimek, Bernhard, ed. "Pallas's pika". Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. 2nd ed. Vol. 16. Detroit, MI: Gale, 2003. 499-500. {{Taxonbar, from=Q1765269 Pikas Mammals of China Mammals of Mongolia Mammals of Russia Mammals described in 1867 Taxa named by John Edward Gray Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN