Species Spotlight

American pika. [Photo: NOAA Earth Systems Research Laboratory]
American pika
[Photo: NOAA Earth Systems Research Laboratory]

American pika
Ochotona princeps

Description: The American pika is a small rodent that has a round body, large, round ears, and is between six and eight inches long. Generally weighing about six ounces, the pika is diurnal, meaning it is active during the day.

Life History: Mating first occurs before the snow starts to melt. Females give birth to 2 to 4 offspring, which are weaned in 3 to 4 weeks. After about one month, the offspring leave the mother and grow to adult size after an additional two months. The females may mate again, and may have more than one litter. Pikas eat a variety of plants, including grasses, thistles, sedges, and flowers. The pika is active all year, and stockpiles dried vegetation deep down between rocks for the winter.

Habitat: Live in between rocks on high elevation boulder and talus slopes, and are very sensitive to high temperatures.

Distribution: The habitat range of the pika extends from British Columbia and Alberta in Canada, down through the Rocky Mountains to New Mexico. They are also found in the Sierra Nevada Range.

Status: There is concern that some pika populations may be adversely affected by warming temperatures due to global climate change, which decreases the amount of suitable high elevation habitat. However, the pika is not listed as endangered or threatened as of February, 2010. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife report indicates that some pika populations may be able to adapt to higher temperatures.

Resources: NatureWorks
NOAA Earth Systems Research Laboratory
Big Sky Institute, Montana State University
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
World Wildlife Fund

Mammals
Bull Elk (<i>Cervus elaphus</i>) [Photo: Jim Peaco, 2000, Yellowstone Digital Slide File]
Bull Elk (Cervus elaphus)
[Photo: Jim Peaco, 2000, Yellowstone Digital Slide File]

Mammals are vertebrates of the taxonomic class Mammalia including animals such as American marsupials, insectivores, bats, edentates, lagomorphs, rodents, carnivores, and artiodactyls. Thought of as warm-blooded, mammals are endotherms, meaning they are able to regulate their own body temperature independently of the temperature of their surroundings. Mammal characteristics include skin covered with hairs, females with mammary glands that secrete milk to feed young, and a reproduction strategy of internal fertilization and bearing relatively mature live offspring.

The Mountain Prairie region is home to many charismatic mammal species, including the elk, black-footed ferret, moose, beaver, lynx, pronghorn antelope, wolverine, gray wolf, bison, and grizzly bear.

Ninety-three mammal species have been identified in state wildlife action plans as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (GCN) for the Mountain Prairie Region, which includes which includes Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The Mountain Prairie Mammal Species of Greatest Conservation Need interactive application brings together resources on the 93 GCN mammal species from multiple authoritative sources including the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) and NatureServe.

Black-Footed Ferret [Photo: Paul Marinari] Black-Footed Ferret
Black-footed ferrets, once widespread throughout the Great Plains, are one of the US's most endangered mammals.
Gray Wolf [Photo: Doug Smith, Yellowstone Digital Slide File]Gray Wolf
Gray wolves, the largest member of the canine family, are a species whose recovery and management is surrounded by controversy.
Grizzly Bear [Photo: Jim Peaco, National Park Service]Grizzly Bear
Grizzly bears historically roamed from the Great Plains to the Pacific Coast, but are now limited in distribution to the Northern Rockies, the Greater Yellowstone, and the North Cascades Ecosystems.


Mammals in North America

In North America, mammals (non-marine) are represented by numerous taxonomic families within the taxonomic orders below:

American marsupials (Order Didelphimorphia)
The American opossum is the only marsupial found in North America.
Artiodactyls (order Artiodactyla)
This order includes hoofed mammals such as deer, elk, bison, and pigs.
Bats (order Chiroptera)
Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight.
Carnivores (order Carnivora)
Carnivores include predatory mammals such as wolves.
Edentates (order Cingulata)
This order includes armadillos. Armadillos are steadily increasing their range northward from the Southern U.S.
Insectivores (order Soricomorpha)
This order includes moles and shrews, mammals that primarily consume small invertebrates such as insects.
Lagomorphs (order Lagomorpha)
This order is represented by the taxonomic family Leporidae, which includes rabbits, hares, cottontail, and jackrabbits.
Rodents (order Rodentia)
Rodents include mammals such as squirrels, mice, and beaver.

Authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, fungi, and microbes of North America and the world can be explored using the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS), a partner of the NBII.

Mammal Resources for the Mountain Prairie Region
Showing 5 of 34 ( Show All )
Collapse(Class) Mammals - Montana Field Guide
Description: Montana Field Guides for class Mammalia. includes taxonomy, taxonomic orders, and additional sources of information related to Mammals.
Resource Type: Checklists and Identification Guides
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Montana Natural Heritage Program
ExpandBiodiversity and its Management on the National Elk Refuge, Wyoming (PDF)
ExpandBison in Yellowstone
ExpandEndangered Bats of Arkansas, Distribution, Status, and Ecology (2000-2001)
ExpandEndangered Bats of Arkansas, Distribution, Status, and Ecology (2001-2002)

Species Spotlight

Bison
[Photo: Jim Peaco, 2002,
Yellowstone Digital Slide File]

American Bison
Bison bison

Description: Bison are large, vegetarian mammals. Bulls can weigh near 1,800 pounds and females average about 1,000 pounds.

Life History: Bison breed from mid-July to mid-August. Calves are born singly in the spring. They are strict vegetarians, grazing on grasses and sedges as they move between meadows, foothills, and high-elevation plateaus.

Distribution: Once distributed across the Great Plains, wild bison are now limited to pockets.  There has been a wild population in Yellowstone National Park since prehistoric times.

Status: Bison in Yellowstone are difficult to manage because much of the population has been exposed to the bacteria brucellosis, which can cause cattle to abort. Wild bison have not been known to transmit brucellosis to cattle, but ranchers fear it will happen in the lands that surround Yellowstone.

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