Thomas's pika
Thomas's pika, also known as the Thomas-pika, is a species of small mammal in the pika family, Ochotonidae. The fur on its upper body is reddish brown in summer, and mouse grey in winter. It is a generalist herbivore threatened by habitat loss, being found on isolated peaks of the eastern Qilian Mountains in Qinghai, Gansu, and northwestern Sichuan, 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 in 1996, and as a species of least concern in 2008.
Taxonomy
Thomas's pika is a monotypic species, that was first described in 1948 by the Russian zoologist A. I. Argyropulo, in the journal Trudy Zoologicheskogo Instituta. He named it after the British mammalogist Michael Rogers Oldfield Thomas. Thomas's pika is similar to the Gansu pika, with a similar greatest skull length, but can be distinguished by its smaller skull and cheek bone width. In 1974, Feng and Kao synonymised O. t. cilanica Bannikov 1960 with Ochotona thomasi. According to Mammal Species of the World, 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 and the palatal foramen are attached, and there is no oval foramen above the frontal bone. The cheek bones are wide, and the ears measure in length. It has elongated, convex auditory bullae. The summer dorsal pelage is reddish brown, and the underparts 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 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 Qinghai, Gansu, and northwestern Sichuan.It inhabits meadows and isolated hilly, shrubby forests of Caragana jubata, the shrubby cinquefoil, Rhododendron, and the willow species, at elevations between and from sea level.
Thomas's pika is sympatric with the Gansu pika which also overlaps in part of its range with the Moupin pika but there is no overlap in the ranges of Thomas's and Moupin pikas.