ÿþ<HTML> <HEAD><TITLE>pika-e</TITLE> <BODY bgcolor="ffffff"> <FONT SIZE = 6> The pika (<I>Ochotona</I>) </FONT SIZE></P><BR> The pika (Ochotona) is a small rabbit weighing around 200g. It is distingished by short rounded ears, hindlegs slightly longer than forelimbs and a vestigial tail from the rabbit and hare, and belongs to the genous <I>Ochotona</I>, the family Ochotonidae, and the order Lagomorpha. The pika is paleontologically extremely primitive and is concidered to be "a living fossile" of the Eocene epoch in the Tertiary period (65-25 million years ago). The pikas livie in the cold areas or high mountains such as the Himalayas, Alaska, Manchuria, Rocky Mountains and Ural Mountains. The pika attracts attentions as an animal model of cold adaptation as well as high-altitude adaptation. The pika is intolerant to heat because of lack of efficient heat loss mechanisms, and does not hibernate in winter. <P> <IMG SRC = "newred.gif"><FONT SIZE = 4> <B>Photos and movies of black-lipped pikaÿ<I>Ochotona curzoniae</I> ÿare up-loaded</FONT SIZE></B> <HR> <FONT SIZE = 5> <B>Afghan pika(<I>Ochotona rufescens rufescens</I>)</B></FONT SIZE><a href="pika-e2.htm"> Go to Large Size Photos </A><P> <TABLE cellspacing="10"> <TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "afghanpi-1s.jpg" ></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "afghanpi-2s.jpg" ></TD><TR> <TD ALIGN="left" > <B>An adult</B></TD><TD ALIGN="left"><B>A child, 40days old, 140g</B></TD><TR> </TABLE> <B>at the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University (June 1986)</B> <HR> <FONT SIZE = 5> <B>Daurica pika (<I>Ochotona daurica</I>) </FONT SIZE></B><a href="pika-e2.htm"> Go to Large Size Photos </A><P> <B>In Mongolia, it is as cold as -20ºC in winter. The marmot, which lives under the ground as the pika in the same area, hibernates in winters, however, the pika does not hibernate but stores the hay in the burrows for winter foods. </B><P> <TABLE> <TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "daurica-1s.jpg" ></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "daurica-2s.jpg" ></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "daurica-3s.jpg" ></TD><TR> <TD VALIGN="TOP" > <B>at the Institute of Biology, University of Mongolia</B></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP"><B>at the Institute of Biology, University of Mongolia</B></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP"><B>An infant of Daurica pika<BR>at Mt. Bogdo 40km south of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia</B></TD><TR> <TD VALIGN="TOP" > <B>July 31, 1995</B></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP"><B>July 25, 1994</B></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP"><B>Aug. 2, 1995</B></TD><TR> </TABLE> <HR> <FONT SIZE = 5> <B>Yeso-pika (<I>Ochotona hyperborea yesoensis</I>)</FONT SIZE></B> <a href="pika-e2.htm"> Go to Large Size Photos </A><P> <TABLE cellspacing="10"> <TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "yesopi-2s.jpg"></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "yesopi-3s.jpg"></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "yesopi-7s.jpg"></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP" NOWRAP><IMG SRC = "yesopi-8s.jpg"></TD><TR> <TD VALIGN="TOP" > <B>An adult</B></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP"><B>An adult with winter fur on the hip</B></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP"><B>An adult whistling on the rock<BR></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP"><B>A child</B></TD><TR> </TABLE> <B>at Lake Komadome, Hokkaido, Japan (July 18, 1999)</B> <HR> <FONT SIZE = 5> <B>Black-lipped pikaÿ<I>Ochotona curzoniae</I> ÿ</FONT SIZE></B><IMG SRC = "newred.gif"> <a href="pika-e2.htm"> Go to Large Size Photos </A><P> <TABLE cellspacing="10"> <TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "Qinghai-pika2s.JPG"></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP" ><IMG SRC = "Qinghai-pika1s.JPG"></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP" >Movie files (Mpeg1, 352 * 240) are large<BR><BR><a href="DV0001.mpg"> Movie-1 (Running three pikas)</A>(8sec, 1.5MB) <BR><a href="DV0002.mpg"> Movie-2 (Three pikas)</A> (20sec, 3.5MB)<BR><a href="DV0004.mpg"> Movie-3 (Two pikas)</A>(27sec, 4.7MB)<BR><a href="DV0005.mpg"> Movie-4(Zoom-up of a pika eating grass)</A>(26sec, 4.5MB)<BR><a href="DV0007.mpg"> Movie-5(A pika eating grass)</A>(7sec, 1.3MB)<BR><a href="DV0008.mpg"> Movie-6 (A pika scratching the face with the hind-leg)</A>(19sec, 3.3MB)<BR></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP"><TR> <TD VALIGN="TOP" > <B>A family of 4 pikas</B></TD><TD VALIGN="TOP"><B>A young adult</B></TD><TR> </TABLE> <B>at the plateau (about 4,000 m above sea level) near Machine, Qinghai Province, China (Aug. 19, 2000)</B> <HR> Link the pika<P> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.oit.itd.umich.edu/bio/doc.cgi/Chordata/Mammalia/Lagomorpha/Ochotonidae/ Ochotona_princeps.ftl"> Ochotona princeps (University of Michigan) </A> <li><a href="http://members.xoom.com/FrenchPika/">French Pika</a> </ul> <HR> Our publications on the physiology of the pika<P> <ul> <li>Studies of temperature regulation on pika (Ochotona rufescens); an old-fashioned rabbit. Kosaka M, Ohwatari N, Iwamoto J, Tsuchiya K, Fujiwara M, Fan Y-J, Matsuo S, Moriuchi T, Matsuzaki T. Trop Med, 27, 289-294, 1985. <li>Poor heat loss ability of pika (whistle rabbit). Yang G-J, Matsumoto T, Kosaka M, Yamauchi M, Ohwatari N. Trop Med, 30, 45-48, 1988. <li>Analysis of locomotor activity on pika (whitle rabbit). Kosaka M, Yang G-J, Matsumoto T, Ohwatari N, Tsuchiya K, Chen C-M, Nakamura K, Matsuo S, Moriuchi T. Trop Med, 30, 213-218, 1988. <li>Physiological characteristics of pika (Ochotona rufescens rufescens) as a weak heat tolerant animal. Yang G-J. Trop Med, 32, 129-140, 1990. <li>A field study of telemetry-recording of the body temperature in wild Mongolian pikas. Matsumoto T, Kosaka M, Saito M, Sakai A, Matsuzaki T, Ganzorig S, Ohwatari N, Shimazu M, Nomura T. Trop Med, 37, 93-98, 1995. <li> Insulative adaptation to cold and absence of circadian body temperature rhythm in Afghan pikas (Ochotona rufescens rufescens). Luo Z-W, Matsumoto T, Ohwatari N, Shimazu M, Kosaka M. Trop Med, 38, 107-116, 1996. <li>Rearing of plateau pika (Ochotona daurica) captured in Mongolia. Matsuzaki T, Saito M, Sakai A, Matsumoto T, Ganzorig S, Maeda Y. Exp Anim, 47(3), 203-206, 1998. <li> Anatomical and neurochemical peculiarities of the pika retina: basis for lack of circadian rhythm of core temperature. Luo ZW, Kosaka M, Othman T, Piad JNC, Cao Y, Lee JB, Matsumoto T, Ohwatari N, Ichinose A, Mori K & Tonosaki A. Neurosci Lett, 259(1), 13-16, 1999. </ul> <HR> <a href="matsum-e.htm"> Back To Matsumoto's Home Page </A>