Giant pika

Extinct species of mammalTemplate:SHORTDESC:Extinct species of mammal

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The **giant pika** or **Wharton's pika** (*Ochotona whartoni*) is an extinct mammal species in the family Ochotonidae. It lived during the Pleistocene and early Holocene in northern parts of North America (Alaska, US and Canada). Very similar forms have also been found also in Siberia.

## Distribution

The giant pika has been found in Alaska (United States), Yukon (*O. whartoni* and *O* cf. *whartoni*, large number of locations), Alberta and Ontario (Canada). A close relative *O. whartoni* (*O.* cf. *whartoni*) is also known from Eastern Siberia and Kolyma.

The ancestors of these pikas migrated from Eurasia to North America during the Early Pleistocene via the Bering Land Bridge, along with another group of small pikas close to the "*O. pusilla* group". This migration was separate from that of *O. spanglei*, which entered North America approximately three million earlier at the Miocene-Pliocene boundary.

### Detailed fossil distribution

* Canada
	+ Old Crow River, Yukon, Irvingtonian (1.8 - 0.3 Ma) and Middle Pleistocene (0.8 - 0.1 Ma), *O* cf. *whartoni* and *O. whartoni*.
	+ Old Crow River, Yukon, Late/Upper Pleistocene (Late Illinoian-Sangamonian stages)
	(0.1 - 0.0 Ma / ~125,000-80,000 BP), at least 10 locations, *O. cf. whartoni*
	+ Thistle Creek, Yukon, Middle Pleistocene (0.8 - 0.1 Ma), *O. whartoni*
	+ Eagle Cave, Alberta, >33,000 BP
	+ Elba Cave at Elba, Ontario, 8670±220 BP  (the last known occurrence of this species)
	+ Kelso Cave, Ontario, Late Wisconsian (>32,000 BP)

The large form of *Ochotona* was found in 2 of 5 localities in eastern North America.
* United States
	+ Cape Deceit, Alaska, Cape Deceit Formation, Irvingtonian (1.8 - 0.3 Ma), *O. whartoni*,
	(the species was discovered here)
	+ Gold Hill Cut at Fairbanks, Alaska
* Russia - only *O* cf. *whartoni*
	+ From eastern Siberia - Zayarsk site to the Kolyma Range area (Krestovka Sections, Yakutia), in Kolyma from Late Cenozoic
	+ Western Siberia, but  mentions only *Ochotona* as occurring there.

## Biology

The giant pika is much larger than other North American pikas, but is of a similar size to the extinct early and middle Pleistocene *O. complicidens* and extant *O. koslowi* (Koslov's pika), both from China, and may belong to one of them. Unlike the American pika (*O. princeps*), which inhabits scree slopes, the giant pika's habitat was largely tundra and steppe, similar to Eurasian pikas.

## Occurrence and extinction

The giant pika has been found in North America from the Irvingtonian (1.8–0.3 Ma, Lower–Middle Pleistocene) throughout Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene (0.1–0.0Ma) locations.

The last occurrence of the giant pika is known from early the Holocene of eastern North America (a cave at Elba in the Niagara Escarpment, Ontario) and its radiometric date is 8670±220 years BP (14C age) or 10251-9140 BP (calibrated date). It is possible that it survived in the rocky areas along the Niagara Escarpment as a relict population.

## Notes

1. ↑ Common name: giant pika - i.e. Harington 1978, Harington 2003, Mead 1987, according to Harington 2003 also Mead 1996.
2. ↑ Common name: Wharton's pika - Kurten 1980.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 *Ochotona whartoni* in the Paleobiology Database.
4. ↑ The Paleobiology Database collections: Old Crow River Lower OCR 11 (Pleistocene of Canada) and Lower OCR 12 (Pleistocene of Canada).
5. ↑ The Paleobiology Database collection: Old Crow River site 14N (Pleistocene of Canada).
6. ↑ The Paleobiology Database collection: Old Crow River Locality 44 (Pleistocene of Canada).
7. ↑ The Paleobiology Database collection: Thistle Creek (Pleistocene of Canada).
8. ↑ The Paleobiology Database collection: Cape Deceit (Pleistocene of the United States)."

## References

* Paleontology portal
* Mammals portal

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Guthrie, R.D.; Matthews, John V. Jr. (1971). "The Cape Deceit fauna—Early pleistocene mammalian assemblage from the Alaskan arctic". *Quaternary Research*. **1** (4): 474–510. Bibcode:1971QuRes...1..474G. doi:10.1016/0033-5894(71)90060-3.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 "The Paleobiology Database. †*Ochotona whartoni* Guthrie and Matthews, Jr. 1971 (pika)". Retrieved April 13, 2014.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Harington, Charles Richard (1978). *Quaternary vertebrate faunas of Canada and Alaska and their suggested chronological sequence*. Syllogeus, no. 15. Ottawa: National Museums of Canada. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 Harington, Charles Richard (2003). *Annotated Bibliography of Quaternary Vertebrates of Northern North America: With Radiocarbon Dates*. Ottawa: University of Toronto Press. pp. 228–229. ISBN 978-0802048172. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 Mead, Jim I. (1987-06-01). "Quaternary records of pika, Ochotona, in North America". *Boreas*. **16**: 165–171. doi:10.1006/qres.1996.0009. ISSN 0300-9483.
6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 Mead, Jim I. (January 1996). "Ochotona (Lagomorpha) from Late Quaternary Cave Deposits in Eastern North America". *Quaternary Research*. **45** (1): 93–101. Bibcode:1996QuRes..45...93M. doi:10.1006/qres.1996.0009.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Kurtén, Björn (1980). *Pleistocene Mammals of North America*. Photographs by Elaine Anderson. New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 275–276. ISBN 978-0231037334. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Erbajeva, Margarita A.; Mead, Jim I.; Swift, Sandra L. (2003). "Evolution and development of Asian and North American ochotonids" (PDF). *Occasional Papers in Earth Sciences No. 5*: 33–34. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 31, 2014. Retrieved April 13, 2014. 3rd INTERNATIONAL MAMMOTH CONFERENCE, 2003: PROGRAM AND ABSTRACTS, Edited by John E. Storer
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Erbajeva, Margarita A.; Mead, Jim I.; Alexeeva, Nadezhda V.; Angelone, Chiara; Swift, Sandra L. (2011). "Taxonomic diversity of Late Cenozoic Asian and North American ochotonids (an overview)" (PDF). *Palaeontologia Electronica*: 1–9. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Storer, J. E. (2004). "A Middle Pleistocene (late Irvingtonian) mammalian fauna from Thistle Creek, Klondike Goldfields region of Yukon Territory, Canada". *Paludicola*. **4** (4): 137–150.
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Jopling, A. V.; Irving, W. N.; Beebe, B. F. (1981). "Stratigraphic, Sedimentological and Faunal Evidence for the Occurrence of Pre-Sangamonian in Northern Yukon". *Arctic*. **34** (1): 3–33. doi:10.14430/arctic2499. Retrieved April 13, 2014.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Turvey, Samuel T. (May 28, 2009). *Holocene Extinctions*. Oxford New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0199535095. Retrieved 2014-04-11.

## Additional references of the Paleobiology Database

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Guthrie, R. D.; Matthews, Jr., J. V. (1971). "The Cape Deceit fauna—Early pleistocene mammalian assemblage from the Alaskan arctic". *Quaternary Research*. **1** (4): 474–510. doi:10.1016/0033-5894(71)90060-3.  [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 A. V. Jopling et al. (1981). "Stratigraphic, Sedimentological and Faunal Evidence for the Occurrence of Pre-Sangamonian Artefacts in Northern Yukon". *Arctic*. **34** (1). doi:10.14430/arctic2499. CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter (link)  [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Harington, C. R. (1978). "Quaternary vertebrate faunas of Canada and Alaska and their suggested chronological sequence". *Syllogeus*. **15**.  [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Harington, C. R. (1990). "Vertebrates of the last interglaciation in Canada: A review". *Geographie Physique et Quaternaire*. **44** (3): 375. doi:10.7202/032837ar .  [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Uhen]
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Storer, J. E. (2004). "A Middle Pleistocene (late Irvingtonian) mammalian fauna from Thistle Creek, Klondike Goldfields region of Yukon Territory, Canada". *Paludicola*. **4** (4): 137–150.  [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Tedford, R. H.; Wang, X; Taylor, B. E. (2009). "Phylogenetic Systematics of the North American Fossil Caninae (Carnivora: Canidae)" (PDF). *Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History*. **325**: 1–218. doi:10.1206/574.1. hdl:2246/5999.  [J. Marcot/J. Marcot]
7. ↑ Additional contributors to utilized records of Paleobiology Database (authorizers supplying these records) include John Alroy, Jonathan Marcot.
8. ↑ "The Paleobiology Database collection: Old Crow River (Lower OCR 11) (Pleistocene of Canada)". Retrieved 2015-03-14. authorized by John Alroy
9. ↑ "The Paleobiology Database collection: Old Crow River (Lower OCR 12) (Pleistocene of Canada)". Retrieved 2015-03-14. authorized by John Alroy
10. ↑ "The Paleobiology Database collection: Old Crow River site 14N (Pleistocene of Canada)". Retrieved 2015-03-14. authorized by Jonathan Marcot
11. ↑ "The Paleobiology Database collection: Old Crow River Locality 44 (Pleistocene of Canada)". Retrieved 2015-03-14. authorized by John Alroy
12. ↑ "The Paleobiology Database collection: Thistle Creek (Pleistocene of Canada)". Retrieved 2015-03-14. authorized by John Alroy
13. ↑ "The Paleobiology Database collection: Cape Deceit (Pleistocene of the United States)". Retrieved 2015-03-14. authorized by John Alroy