Pika

pika, (genus Ochotona), small short-legged and virtually tailless egg-shaped mammal found in the mountains of western North America and much of Asia. Despite their small size, body shape, and round ears, pikas are not rodents but the smallest representatives of the lagomorphs, a group otherwise represented only by hares and rabbits (family Leporidae).

Watch a pika forage for food in mountainous terrain and deliver a litter of fully dependent hairless pupsSee all videos for this article

The 29 species of pika are remarkably uniform in body proportions and stance. Their fur is long and soft and is generally grayish-brown in colour, although a few species are rusty red. Unlike those of rabbits and hares, the hind limbs are not appreciably longer than the forelimbs. The feet, including the soles, are densely furred, with five toes in front and four behind. Most pikas weigh between 125 and 200 grams (4.5 and 7.1 ounces) and are about 15 cm (6 inches) in length.

pika sitting on rocks

See the pikas preparing for the coming winters in the Sayan MountainsSee all videos for this article

Pikas are normally found in mountainous areas at high elevations. Two species reside in North America, the rest being found primarily throughout Central Asia; 23 of them live entirely or partly in China, especially the Tibetan plateau. There are two distinctly different ecological niches occupied by pikas. Some live only in piles of broken rock (talus), whereas others inhabit meadow or steppe environments, where they construct burrows. The North American species and roughly half of the Asian species live in rocky habitats and do not make burrows. Rather, their nests are made deep in a labyrinth of talus adjoining alpine meadows or other suitable vegetation. The collared pika (O. collaris) of Alaska and northern Canada has been found on the isolated nunataks (crags or peaks surrounded by glaciers) in Kluane National Park, and O. macrotis has been recorded at 6,130 metres (20,113 feet) on the slopes of the Himalayas. The pika with the largest distribution, the northern pika (O. hyperborea), ranges from the Ural Mountains to the east coast of Russia and Hokkaido Island of northern Japan. Although the northern pika is considered a typical talus-dwelling species, it also is known to inhabit rocky terrain in coniferous forests, where it makes burrows under fallen logs and tree stumps.

There are dramatic differences between pikas that inhabit rocky terrain and those that construct burrows in open habitats. Rock dwellers are generally long-lived (up to seven years) and occur at low density, their populations tending to be stable over time. In contrast, burrowing pikas rarely live more than one year, and their widely fluctuating populations may be 30 or more times as dense. These dense populations fluctuate widely. The contrast between rock-dwelling and burrowing pikas extends to their reproduction. Rock-dwelling pikas normally initiate only two litters per year, and generally only one of these is successfully weaned. It is believed that the second litter is successful only when the first offspring are lost early in the breeding season. Litter size of most rock dwellers is low, but burrowing pikas may produce multiple large litters each season. The steppe pika (O. pusilla) has been reported to have litters of as many as 13 young and breed up to five times in a year.

The degree of social behaviour also varies. Rock-dwelling pikas are relatively asocial, claiming widely spaced, scent-marked territories. They communicate their presence to one another by frequently uttering a short call (generally an “eenk” or “ehh-ehh”). Thus, rock-dwelling pikas are able to keep track of neighbours, directly encountering them only once or twice a day. Such encounters normally result in aggressive chases. In contrast, burrowing pikas live in family groups, and these groups occupy and defend a mutual territory. Within the group, social encounters are numerous and generally amicable. Pikas of all ages and both sexes may groom each other, rub noses, or sit side-by-side. Aggressive encounters, normally in the form of long chases, ensue only when an individual from one family group trespasses on the territory of another. Burrowing pikas also have a much larger vocal repertoire than rock-dwelling pikas. Many of these calls signal cohesion within family groups, especially among young from sequential litters or between males and juveniles. All pikas utter short alarm calls when predators are sighted. Males give a long call, or song, during the mating season.

Unlike rabbits and hares, pikas are active during the day, with the exception of the nocturnal steppe pikas (O. pusilla). Being largely alpine or boreal species, most pikas are adapted to living in cold environments and cannot tolerate heat. When temperatures are high, they confine their activity to early morning and late afternoon. Pikas do not hibernate, and they are generalized herbivores. Where snow blankets their environment (as is often the case), they construct caches of vegetation called haypiles to provide food during winter. A characteristic behaviour of rock-dwelling pikas during summer is their repeated trips to meadows adjoining the talus to harvest plants for the haypile. One often repeated but untrue tale is that pikas lay their hay on rocks to dry before storing it. Rather, pikas carry their provisions straight to their haypile unless disturbed. Similar to other lagomorphs, pikas practice coprophagy (see rabbit) to provide additional vitamins and nutrients from their relatively poor-quality forage.

Most pikas live in areas far away from people, yet, given the high densities reached by some burrowing pikas, they have been considered pests on the Tibetan plateau, where pikas are thought to reduce forage for domestic livestock and to damage grasslands. In response, government agencies in China have poisoned them over great expanses. Recent analyses, however, have shown that such control efforts may be misguided, as the pika is a keystone species for biodiversity in this region. Four Asian pikas—three in China and one in Russia and Kazakhstan—are listed as endangered species. One of these, Koslov’s pika (O. koslowi) from China, was originally collected by the Russian explorer Nikolai Przewalski in 1884, and approximately 100 years passed before it was seen again. Not only is this species apparently rare, but it may be in danger of being poisoned as part of control efforts directed at plateau pikas.

Pikas have a variety of common names, most applied to particular forms or species. The names mouse hare and cony are sometimes used, although the pika is neither mouse nor hare, and cony may be confused with the unrelated hyrax—the biblical coney. The genus name originates from the Mongolian ochodona, and the term pika comes from the vernacular piika of the Tunguses, a tribe from northeastern Siberia. Ochotona is the sole living genus of the family Ochotonidae, and its members lack several special skeletal modifications present in hares and rabbits (family Leporidae), such as a highly arched skull, relatively upright posture of the head, strong hind limbs and pelvic girdle, and elongation of limbs. The family Ochotonidae was clearly differentiated from the other lagomorphs as early as the Oligocene Epoch. Ochotona first appeared in the fossil record in the Pliocene in eastern Europe, Asia, and western North America. Its origin was probably in Asia. By the Pleistocene, Ochotona was found in the eastern United States and as far west in Europe as Great Britain. This extensive spread was followed by restriction to its present range. One fossil pika (genus Prolagus) apparently lived during historical time. Its remains have been found on Corsica, Sardinia, and adjacent small islands. Earlier fossil material has been found on the mainland of Italy. Apparently it was still present up to 2,000 years ago but was driven to extinction, likely owing to habitat loss and to competition and predation from introduced animals.