How many baby Turkestan red pikas are in a litter?
A Turkestan red pika (Ochotona rutila) usually gives birth to around 4 babies.With 2 litters per year, that sums up to a yearly offspring of 8 babies.
Upon birth, they weight 11 grams (0.02 lbs) and measure 5.7 cm (0′ 3″). They are a member of the Ochotonidae family (genus: Ochotona). An adult Turkestan red pika grows up to a size of 20.8 cm (0′ 9″).
To have a reference: Humans obviously usually have a litter size of one ;). Their babies are in the womb of their mother for 280 days (40 weeks) and reach an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). They weight in at 62 kg (137 lbs), which is obviously highly individual, and reach an average age of 75 years.
The Turkestan red pika (Ochotona rutila) is a species of mammal in the family Ochotonidae. The summer fur at its back is bright rufous and the ventral fur is white or ochraceous. The winter dorsal fur is pale brown and the ventral fur is white or light ochraceous in colour. It is found in the mountains of western Xinjiang in China, and sporadically also in the central Asian mountains in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. The female has a low fertility rate, and gives birth to offspring during the breeding season from spring to summer. She generally produces two litters each year, with two to six young. It is rated as a species of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Endangered Species, but it is considered to be near-threatened within the China part of its range.
Other animals of the family Ochotonidae
Turkestan red pika is a member of the Ochotonidae, as are these animals:
- Ladak pika raching a size of 17.7 cm (0′ 7″)
- Collared pika with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Northern pika with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Moupin pika with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Plateau pika with 4 babies per pregnancy
- Large-eared pika with 4 babies per pregnancy
- American pika with 2 babies per pregnancy
- Daurian pika with 5 babies per pregnancy
- Royle’s pika with 3 babies per pregnancy
- Alpine pika with 3 babies per pregnancy
Animals that share a litter size with Turkestan red pika
Those animals also give birth to 4 babies at once:
- Bushveld gerbil
- Pousargues’s mongoose
- African pygmy mouse
- Alpine marmot
- Indian desert jird
- Lodgepole chipmunk
- Australian swamp rat
- Tien Shan red-backed vole
- Bunchgrass leaf-eared mouse
- Wild boar
Animals with the same size as a Turkestan red pika
Also reaching around 20.8 cm (0′ 9″) in size do these animals:
- Davao squirrel gets as big as 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Texas pocket gopher gets as big as 18.4 cm (0′ 8″)
- Koslov’s pika gets as big as 24 cm (0′ 10″)
- Yellow-faced pocket gopher gets as big as 19.2 cm (0′ 8″)
- Busuanga squirrel gets as big as 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Large Luzon forest rat gets as big as 24 cm (0′ 10″)
- Common gundi gets as big as 20.8 cm (0′ 9″)
- Nicobar flying fox gets as big as 16.9 cm (0′ 7″)
- Bulmer’s fruit bat gets as big as 24.5 cm (0′ 10″)
- Russian desman gets as big as 20.3 cm (0′ 8″)