Ochotona dauurica

Geographic Range

Daurian pikas are found in the steppes and semi-deserts of Russia, China, and Mongolia. They can be found across the steppes in Altai, Tuva, the Transbaikal and south into Qinghai Province in China.

• Biogeographic Regions
• palearctic palearctic
  • native native

Habitat

Daurian pikas have a wide habitat range, found in grasslands, steppes, and semi-deserts. In southeastern Altai they tend to live in depressions, valleys of small rivers, and shrub thickets from the foothills to the summits of mountains (Sokolov et al. 1994). They are also found in tundra habitats, mainly around mountain steppes. Most Daurian pikas are found at high altitudes, over 3000 m. In one study they inhabited altitudes between 400 to 4000 m above sea level. In Tuva they can be found in association with a variety of areas including; grassy-wormwood, cinquefoil-wormwood, grassy-herbage hillocks and river flood plains (Sokolov et al. 1994). Daurian pikas are also found around agricultural crops (Sokolov et al. 1994). To the South of Tuva they are found in association with pea shrub bushes and rivers or streams.

Daurian pika burrows can be 30 to 40 cm deep with some reaching a depth of 1.5 m (Sokolov et al. 1994). Tunnels can have many entrances, from 4 to 40, and can cover an area from 4 to 700 square meters. Occasionally they occupy uninhabited burrows of Pallas’s pikas ( Ochotona pallasi )(Sokolov et al. 1994) or modify the burrows of rodents.

• Habitat Regions
• temperate temperate
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• tundra tundra
• desert or dune desert or dune
• savanna or grassland savanna or grassland

• Other Habitat Features
• agricultural agricultural

Physical Description

Pikas are characterized by their small body size, short legs, hind legs slightly longer than the front legs, short rounded ears, and a much reduced tail. Pikas have well-developed clavicles and an absence of the pubic symphysis. They have a dental formula of incisors 2/1, canines 0/0, premolars 3/2, and molars 2/3 (or 2/2) for a total of 26 (or 24) teeth. Adult Daurian pikas have a mass of 140 to 170 grams. Skull size exceeds 40 mm. Daurian pikas have palatine and incisor foramina that are fused, a ventrally free vomer, and rounded orbits. Daurian pikas have mostly white vibrissae ranging from 40 to 60 mm long and long thin claws. Body length ranges from 170 to 220 mm (average 180 mm), with their hind feet ranging from 25 to 31 mm (average 29 mm) and ear length from 18 to 24 mm (average 21 mm). Sexual dimorphism is not observed in pikas (Weston, 1982, Smith and Weston, 1990, Deyan et al. 2012). The pelage in summer is yellowish straw-gray to deeper straw-grey with yellowish sides and white bellies. In winter the color becomes lighter and the pelage is longer and more dense. The paws and ears become more furred in the winter. Daurian pikas are also sexually monomorphic. Plateau pikas ( Ochotona curzoniae ), which are native to the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, are similar ecologically and morphologically. Daurian pikas have a diploid chromosome number of 2N = 50 (Smith et al. 1990). There are currently four subspecies of Daurian pikas: O. dauurica annectens , O. dauurica bedfordi , O. dauurica dauurica and O. dauurica mursavi .

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• homoiothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• sexes alike

Reproduction

Daurian pikas are facultatively monogamous. In a captive population a male would mount the female from the back to which the female would then raise her lower end. In captive populations, males emitted long vocalizations which are thought to advertise territories and strengthen the male-female pair bond.

• Mating System
• monogamous monogamous

Daurian pika young may comprise as much as 93% of the population in the summer. Females comprise 59% of newborn young, but this sex ratio changes with age. Female numbers decrease as a cohort ages (Smith et al., 1990). The breeding season occurs from April through September. Litter size can vary from 1 to 11 with a total of three litters during the breeding season. In a related species, Ochotona princeps , the gestation period was 30 days (Miller, 1974). The young are born naked and altricial. In a captive population, young were able to eat a solid diet within 21 days after birth and were weaned at 4 weeks old. Females reach sexual maturity in the year of their birth and are able to produce a litter between June and July (Sokolov et al., 1994). In a captive population of males, testes had receded into the abdomen by September, suggesting no further breeding.

• Key Reproductive Features
• iteroparous iteroparous
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• viviparous viviparous

Daurian pika offspring are born without fur and with their eyes closed. After 10 to 13 days, they were fully furred and able to walk and see. Once the young are born they remain in the burrow during the summer with adults where they receive protection and nutrients (Sokolov et al., 1994). In winter, burrows are usually only occupied by the male and female pair (Sokolov et al., 1994).

• Parental Investment
• altricial altricial
• female parental care female parental care
• pre-fertilization
  • provisioning
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-hatching/birth
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female
• pre-weaning/fledging
  • provisioning
    • female
  • protecting
    • female

Lifespan/Longevity

The expected lifespan of Daurian pikas in the wild is approximately 2.3 years. There is little data on lifespan in captivity, though some were found to live 1 to 2 years.

Behavior

Daurian pikas are mostly diurnal, but activity changes depending on environmental conditions. In spring they are active during the day, in summer they are active in the mornings and evenings. In winter they venture out only on warm days. They avoid hot temperatures, especially during the day, by staying in their burrow (Sokolov et al., 1994). Their burrow system is made up of complex tunnels, including areas for food storage and nesting chambers made of intertwined fibrous grasses. Nests contain layers which increase in dampness and hardness closer to the ground. The top layers are soft and dry because they actively refresh the nesting material. The burrow is usually occupied by a male and female pair and, if present, their offspring. Daurian pikas are social animals and friendly behavior is most often observed in family groups, including grooming and huddling (Smith et al., 1990). Burrowing pikas can have high population densities, but they undergo large fluctuations (Smith et al., 1990). The density of Daurian pikas may vary between 0.1 to over 300 per hectare. This fluctuation can be due to quality of the soil, humidity, vegetation, flooding, and competition with grazing herbivores. Overgrazing by livestock can be detrimental to pika densities.

• Key Behaviors
• cursorial
• fossorial fossorial
• diurnal diurnal
• motile motile
• sedentary sedentary
• territorial territorial
• social social

Home Range

The territory of Daurian pikas is made up of the inner (main burrow and specific places) and peripheral territories. The peripheral territory is the foraging area, which overlaps with other Daurian pika family groups. There is little territorial aggression between neighboring pikas. But aggressive behavior has been observed when an unfamiliar animal enters their territory. Boxing episodes between pikas are rare and brief (Smith et al., 1990).

Communication and Perception

Daurian pikas have many vibrissae from 53 to 59 mm in length. They have large tympanic bullae, as they rely heavily on hearing. Before they exit their burrows, they stop to inspect and listen, sometimes raising onto their hind legs. They communicate using vocal signals, including songs, trills, and alarms. Pikas that hear an alarm from another will repeat the loud whistle to warn others. The trill is always used in a social setting, it is heard at short intervals and a pika will usually respond with a trill within one to two minutes of hearing another's trill (Smirnove 1988, Sokolov et al., 1994). A song is three to four times as long as a trill, but it is not often used (Smirnove 1988, Sokolov et al., 1994). The song is usually not repeated by other pikas and comes more often from males than females (Smirnove 1988, Sokolov et al., 1994). Daurian pikas mark their territories via urine and buccal gland secretions.

• Communication Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• choruses choruses

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Daurian pikas are herbivores that feed on plants near their burrows. As a result, the species composition of their diet varies across their range. In the spring and the beginning of summer, they eat a large amount of underground plant materials. Species that they have been recorded eating include fringed sagebrush ( Artemisia frigid ), Carolina lupine ( Thermopsis lanceolata ), Melissitus ruthenica , Heteropappus altaicus and redstem wormwood ( Artemisia scoparia ). In the Borzinsk steppes, these pikas use 60 species of plants, 11 species of grasses, 9 species of composites , 5 species of legumes, and 4 species of buttercups and roses. Daurian pikas prepare 10 hay piles on average for winter. Daurian pikas cut grasses at the root and pile it up so that the cut ends point up, which aids in drying hay stacks. Daurian pikas do not hibernate, instead they store food in food chambers or near the entrance to their burrows. Furthermore, the large amount of feces found in storage chambers suggests that they may carry in hay from entrances to consume when food chamber levels are depleted or low. Feces can be either dry hard pellets or soft pellets for caecotrophy.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • folivore folivore

• Plant Foods
• leaves
• roots and tubers
• wood, bark, or stems
• flowers

• Foraging Behavior
• stores or caches food stores or caches food

Predation

There are many predators of Daurian pikas. In particular, many species of birds of prey hunt Daurian pikas. For example, these pikas comprise 62% of the diet of steppe eagles ( Aquila nipalensis ), 17% of the diet of upland buzzards ( Buteo hemilasius ), 73% of the diet of eagle owls ( Bubo bubo ) and 22% of the diet of saker falcons ( Falco cherrug ). Corsac foxes ( Vulpes corsac ) and steppe polecats ( Mustela evermanni ) are also known predators of Daurian pikas (Smith et al., 1990). Pikas attempt to avoid predators by being extremely cautious; they remain near their burrows and are alert to dangers. They have keen hearing and use alarm calls to alert neighbors to threats. Neighboring pikas that hear the call repeat it to warn others in the area.

• Anti-predator Adaptations
• cryptic cryptic

Ecosystem Roles

Pika species that live near other pikas often occupy different habitats, possibly to reduce interspecific competition. Daurian pikas play an important role in developing and maintaining biodiversity in their ecosystem. Daurian pikas are a burrowing species. Their digging loosens the soil and their waste and food stores are effective enhancers of floral diversity in the area. Furthermore, plant biomass and cover increase around the burrows as there tends to be more nutrients in the soil, higher temperature soil and more moisture in the soil. Daurian pikas are an important food source for many birds and animals, especially in years where their population is high. They are preyed upon by a variety of different species, however their ecosystem importance is most obvious in winter. Many rodents in the Siberian steppe hibernate during the winter (Smith et al., 1990), while pikas do not. Therefore they become an important source of food for many carnivorous animals. In addition, many invertebrate species take up residence in the hay piles, creating a habitat where certain species of shrew may hunt. Daurian pikas have a variety of internal and external parasites. As many as 31 species of fleas were found on individuals in Tuva and 16 species of fleas on those in Trans-Baikal (Dubinia and Dubinina 1951; Sokolov et al., 1994). Two species, Amphalius runatus and Ctenophyllus hirticrus , were specific to Daurian pikas (Sokolov et al., 1994). Ticks are another form of external parasite that occupy space on the Daurian pikas, including Dermacentor nuttalii , Haemogamasus kitanoi , Hirstoinyssis ochotomae , Laelaps nilaris , L. cleithronomydis , and Eulaelaps cricetuli . Oestromyis dubinini and O. prodigiosa are species of warble flies that have been found under the skin of these pikas. Lastly, intestinal parasites can be found in Daurian pikas including, Ctenotaenia citelli and Schizorchis altaica (Sokolov et al., 1994).

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds
• creates habitat
• soil aeration soil aeration
• keystone species keystone species

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Pika fur was used by the Soviet Union before World War II for high quality felt. The winter behavior of pikas is especially important for Mongolian herdsmen who often bring their livestock to pika hay piles located near the entrances of their burrows.

• Positive Impacts
• body parts are source of valuable material

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Daurian pikas are sometimes considered a pest species as they compete with livestock on open rangelands. Control efforts sometimes target Daurian pikas. Livestock activities are also detrimental to Daurian pikas.

• Negative Impacts
• crop pest

Conservation Status

Daurian pikas are considered a species of least concern by the IUCN. Isolated groups around the northern and southern edges of the Gobi Desert are vulnerable to declines in population numbers (Smith et al., 1990).

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Erin Ciwko (author), University of Manitoba, Jane Waterman (editor), University of Manitoba, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

References

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