I photographed this Pika near Sela Pass in Arunachal Pradesh, India in an alpine meadow at about 4200 meters elevation. Any thoughts on the ID? My guess is Large-eared Pika based on the length of the ear hairs. What resources would you recommend for making an identification? I’ll post a trip report later.
Thanks,
Ben
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Genetically Welsh, spiritually Australian, currently in New York City. I've also lived and worked in London, Canberra, Paris and Lusaka, and visited over 100 countries. There's more here.
Based on our long Pika ID discussions last year, and from my own pictures I would be inclined to say it’s not a large-eared. Large-eared has white underparts and is generally lighter in color, if I recall correctly.
My first guess is Royle’s Pika based on the white neck stripe and brownish underparts, but we’ll see what others might say.
I considered Royle’s Pika, but Sela Pass is several hundred kilometers to the east of its known range.
Looks a little like Moupin Pika. This one’s in range too and I think there are reports from this same area of the species. NOT an expert on this topic by ANY means though…
Ben, I passed this on to Andrey Lissovsky (a Russian academic and Pika expert). He said he knows the species, which he is in the process of describing, and would like to get in touch with you to use the photo. What’s your email address? Write me on jon@mammalwatching.com if you prefer
Jon. Pl put Andrew also in touch with me. I have several photos from sela. This could be a separate sub species of O macrotis
Or indeed something new.