Ochotona coreana

The Changbai Mountain pika belongs to the <Pika> subgenus. It has a narrow distribution range. It was first discovered in northern Korea as an independent species. Later, it was considered a subspecies of the alpine pika. Liu Shaoying et al. (2016) found it to be an independent species through molecular systematic research, and thus restored its independent species status. It mainly lives under and around dead fallen trees in dark coniferous forests.

In China, it is only distributed in Changbai Mountain, which borders North Korea. Abroad, it is distributed in the north of North Korea and the Far East of Russia near North Korea.

The individual is relatively large. The body length is about 190mm. There is a darker dark brown area from the nose tip to the center of the top of the head. The belly is light yellow, and some individuals have a dark brown band in the center of the chest. The ears are darker in color overall, with gray-black on the back and short white hairs on the edges of the front, and the rest of the ears are gray-black. The lips and nose are black. The backs of the front and back feet are yellow-white, and some individuals are painted with dead straw yellow. The bottoms of the front and back feet are gray-black, and the claws are exposed outside the hair. On the skull, there is no oval foramen in the frontal bone, and the incisor foramen and palatine foramen are clearly separated, almost becoming two holes.