Account
What the sources say about this taxon, as written.
biology_ecology · 
Plazi
Movements, Home range and Social organization. Alpine Pikas move aboveground by running and leaping openly. Sunbathing on stones is very common. Home ranges vary widely from 150-360 m? in one location to 570-3040 m? in another. Another long-term study revealed home ranges of 400-8170 m? for males and 450-5800 m*for females. Young Alpine Pikas have smaller home ranges than adults; males have larger home ranges than females. Home ranges of males and females widely overlap. Large summer home ranges shrink in autumn. Alpine Pikas form monogamous spatial groups that do not reflect mating structure. Home range has core area and peripheral zone, usually used for feeding. Core area has well-marked trails, latrines situated under big stones, and hay piles. Latrines of the Alpine Pika are often very big. Densities depend on region and habitat and are generally 100-6000 ind/km*. Populations of Alpine Pikas have experienced long periods of decline and complete disappearance in some regions. Alpine Pikas have well-developed vocalizations; some acoustic signals serve social structure and mating. Vocalization includes roll calls between pikas, and songs function in territorial marking and reflect hormonal status. Nests of Alpine Pikas were found under stones at depths of c.1 m. Bowl-shaped nests were made of dry grass and moss and had diameters of 14-25 cm. Spherical winter nests were made of hay with diameters of 25-30 cm and were found under snow.
activity · Plazi
Activity patterns. Alpine Pikas are diurnal, and activity patterns depend on weather. They avoid midday heat and windy periods. During active mating or hoarding, they remain active at dusk and for first part of the night. During winter, Alpine Pikas spend most part of the time under snow where they dig snow tunnels between hay piles and shelters. In general, Alpine Pikas are easily seen on the surface; their activity can also be traced by load calls.
discussion · Plazi
According to mtDNA and nDNA, O. alpina belongs to subgenus Pika. It was treated as separate, or included O. hyperborea and all other related species, until zone of sympatry between these two species and differences in chromosomes were described. Different authors also included svatoshi (now belongs to O. hyperborea ) and scorodumovi (now belongs to O. mantchurica ). Subsequent studies of morphology, DNA, and bioacoustics resulted in the definition of O. alpina as considered here. Ochotona turuchanensis may belong to this species because DNA studies showed it to be an internal branch in O. alpina variation. Striking difference in morphology, however, prevents aggregation of these two species together until comprehensive genetic study. Ochotona alpina is sympatric with O. hyperborea within Western Sayan and Eastern Sayan Mountains, Khangai Upland, and Tannu Ola Range (Tuva, Russia). According to morphological studies, it includes atra, changaica, nanula, nitida, sayanica, and sushkini. Three subspecies recognized.
discussion · Plazi
Discussion: 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.
iNaturalist
xeno-canto