Alpine Pika – Ochotona alpina

Ochotona alpinaPallas, 1773

Accepted name, Mammal Species of the World 2005

Subgenus Pika. Formerly included hyperborea; but see Ivanitskaya (1985) and Pavlinov and Rossolimo (1987). Sokolov and Orlov (1980:79) considered hyperborea a distinct species with a distribution overlapping that of alpina in the Khangai and Kentei Mtns, Mongolia. Separate specific status was supported by differences in chromosome numbers (Vorontsov and Ivanitskaya, 1973). The race sushkini, formerly assigned to O. pallasi, is a subspecies of alpina (see A. T. Smith et al., 1990, and references therein; see Niu et al., 2001, for contrary view). Does not include collaris or princeps, see Weston (1981). Formerly included argentata, but see Erbajeva (1997), Formozov (1997), and Formozov et al. (In Press) who gave it full species status on the basis of morphology, chromosome number and acoustic behavior.

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.