American pika (Ochotona princeps), Grand Teton National Park, 2014.
After watching this video, is it surprising that pika belong to the order Lagomorpha, which includes only the pika family (Ochotonidae) along with the family to which rabbits & hares belong (Leporidae)? In fact, 'Lagomorpha' translates to the words 'hare' and 'form'. Pika are also nicknamed 'whistling hare', for the high-pitched alarm it makes when diving into its burrow. You may have also heard of the pika referred to as a 'coney', which is a generic term that is often applied to rabbits, hares and hyraxes as well. NOTE: Hyraxes may be mistaken for similarly-rotund rodents but don't be fooled! They are actually tiny herbivorous mammals, more closely-related to elephants and manatees than rodents.
U.S. National Park Service
Permission must be secured from the individual copyright owners to reproduce any copyrighted materials contained within this website.