Black-lipped Pika
Ochotona curzoniae
- Class
- Mammal
- Rarity
- Common
- Observations
- 393
- Most observed in
- 🇨🇳 China
- Conservation
- Least Concern
Description
The plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae), also known as the black-lipped pika, is a species of mammal in the pika family, Ochotonidae. It is a small diurnal and non-hibernating mammal weighing about 140 g (4.9 oz) when fully grown. The animals are reddish tan on the top-side with more of a whitish yellow on their under-belly. It prefers to live in elevations of 3,100 to 5,000 m (10,200 to 16,400 ft), mostly in the Tibetan Plateau, which is where the common name originates from. The species is found in China, India, and Nepal in high alpine deserts, steppe and meadows, as well as tropical and subtropical montane forests.
Summary adapted from the Wikipedia article “Plateau pika”.