Igo RODENTS. 
THE PICAS. 
Family LAGOM VID. 
Most travellers in the Himalaya are familiar with the pretty little Rodents, 
known as picas, tailless hares, or mouse-hares, which may be seen in the higher 
regions, cautiously poking their noses out from between broken rocks, and again 
disappearing with the rapidity of lightning directly they catch a glimpse of the 
intruder. These creatures constitute a family of the present group, of which there 
is but the single genus Lagomys, and present the following characteristics. 
All the species are of comparatively small size, being considerably inferior in 












SIBERIAN PICA (1 nat. size). 
this respect to a rabbit; and are easily recognised by their small ears, and the 
absence of any external traces of a tail. The fore and hind-limbs are short and 
of nearly equal length. In the skeleton the collar bones are complete; and the 
skull has no descending (postorbital) processes defining the hinder border of the 
socket of the eye. In the living species there are two pairs of premolar teeth, in 
addition to three molars, in each jaw. The picas have the soles of the feet well 
covered with hair; and the fur of the body is generally thick and soft. 
Picas, of which there are a considerable number of species, may 
be considered as especially characteristic of Northern and Central 
Asia, one species alone ranging into Eastern Europe, while another inhabits North 
America. In Asia the genus extends into Eastern Persia, Afghanistan, the 
Himalaya, and Tibet. The best known species is the Siberian pica (Lagomys 
alpinus), inhabiting the steppes of Eastern Europe, Siberia, and Kamschatka. 
This animal may be compared in size to a guinea-pig, its length being from 9 to 
Distribution. 
