Tsing-ling pika
Ochotona huangensis is a mammal of the family of pikas among lagomorphs. Its distribution area is limited to an area in the province of Sichuan in China.
Features
Ochotona huangensis is a medium sized pika with a body length of 12.5 to 17.6 centimeters. It corresponds in its exterior largely Ochotona thibetana, as its subspecies it was used until 1992, and differs from it only slightly in morphological details.
Dissemination
Ochotona huangensis is endemic in the People's Republic of China. The species inhabits the provinces of Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Sichuan, Shanxi, Henan and Hubei, where it occurs partially sympatric with other pikas in the mountain regions. So she lives sympatric with Ochotona thibetana in Qin Ling and northwestern Sichuan and Ochotona cansus in Xunhua, Qinghai and southern Gansu. He usually comes before at altitudes up to 2700 meters, but can reach up to 4000 meters locally.
Way of life
Over the life of this pikas are few information. He lives like other pikas of China and feeds generalist plants. As habitats Ochotona uses huangensis different habitats of coniferous and coniferous deciduous mixed forests through bushland to grassland. The animals also create complex residential buildings in the ground.
System
Ochotona huangensis was assigned as an independent species the pikas ( genus Ochotona ) and the subgenus Ochotona, subspecies are not known.
The first scientific description was made by the German zoologist Paul Matschie in 1908. The Pika was originally considered a subspecies of Ochotona thibetana, but was described in 1992 as a separate species by Yu and Zheng basis of morphological data. This was accomplished by Yu et al. Confirmed in 1997 and 2000 on the basis of molecular data.
Threats and conservation
The species is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources ( IUCN) due to their very large distribution area and the comparatively large population as not at risk ( least concern ). However, few data on the type are available and it was still classified in 1996 as threatened.