Investigation of the ecological characteristics of wildlife species and determination of habitat suitability of them is one of the main goals for wildlife management and protection strategies. In this study, habitat suitability of Pika (Ochotona rufescens) was investigated in Golestan National Park. In order to habitat suitability modeling, the Ecological Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA) method was used. Ecogeographic factors were also used as independent variables including altitude, slope, aspect, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), distances from the springs and the rivers. Result with 95 % of significance level demonstrated that the best habitat for Pika was in average altitudes 1325 m a.s.l., slope of 21degrees, south aspect, and distances of 2291 m far from the rivers, 3216 m from the springs.The results of habitat suitability modeling indicated that pika favorite Habitat in Golestan National Park was mostly at rocky and mountainous areas with steppe cover, that this species has a median niche and a tendency to occupy marginal habitats.

Phylogenetic relationships between Afghan Pika (O. rufescens) and others in the world are still unclear. Morphological phylogeny study of the genus Ochotona by different experts showed the different taxonomic position of the Afghan Pika, but could not determine the taxonomic position of this species. Previous phylogenetic studies based on mtDNA markers showed the different sister groups of the species. In this study, we aimed to unveil the phylogenetic relationship of the Afghan Pika, adding more specimens to the phylogenetic trees. In total, 355 different sequences relating to different pikas were retrieved from GenBank and 25 individuals from Iran were also sequenced for cytb. The phylogenetic tree revealed that samples of individuals from Northern Iran, Southern Iran and the Toulouse lab aggregate in the same clade. Results of K2P showed that the pairwise genetic distance of O. rufescens was closer to that of Conothoa subgenus than to others. It seems that the phylogenetic status of O. rufescens, is more related to the Conothoa subgenera than to Ochotona or Pika.

Leopard (Panthera pardus) is one of the most widely distributed of all big cats, with Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor), ranked as an endangered taxon, as an invaluable subspecies (IUCN red list). The underlying causes of leopard population perish are the degradation of their natural habitats, a significant reduction in the population of prey, and hunting. The purpose of this study was to determine the composition of the Persian Leopard diet in the Tandoreh National Park (TNP) of Iran. We collected 51 scats between June and December 2012 in the study area (TNP). Six wild species, two domestic mammals and one unidentified bird were identified. Pika (Ochotona rufescens) were determined as the most prevalent (25.8%) prey. Further, Urial (Ovis orientalis arkali) was also an important prey for its high frequency of occurrence in the scat analysis (22.6%). Moreover, Sheep (Ovis aries) (3.2%), domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) (3.2%), and birds (1.6%) were least frequently observed in the collected materials.

The Afghan pika (Ochotona rufescens) is a small mammal in the family Ochotonidae. This small mammal occurs in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkmenistan. Here, we investigated the helminth infections among the Afghan pikas from northeastern Iran.
Fourteen Afghan pikas were entrapped from Bojnord, Mashhad, Birjand, and Tandoureh in the northeast of Iran during 2013-2015. The animals were euthanized, dissected, and their gastrointestinal tracts were removed, which were then cut longitudinally, and inspected under a stereomicroscope for the presence of helminths. Also, using the formalin-ether concentration technique, the intestinal contents of the animals were examined microscopically for helminths eggs.
Out of 14 pikas examined, 11 (78%) harbored at least one helminth species and mixed infections with two helminths were observed in 3 (21%) animals. Four oxyurid species including Cephaluris chabaudi, Cephaluris akhtar, Fastigiuris prudhoei, and Dermatoxy schneider were identified. Also, the Oxyurid eggs were recovered from the intestinal contents of four pikas. No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in infection rate between male and female animals and between the areas. Oxyurid worms were the only prevalent infection among the Afghan pikas in northeastern Iran. The absence of other helminthic infections in pikas of the study area might be attributed to various factors like the lack of hosts species, high-elevation, and adequate moisture which facilitate the life cycle of many helminths species

One of the most struggling issues for conservationists and wildlife managers is the climate change. This can be the necessity to develop climate condition indicators. Due to the limited movements and special habitat conditions، Pikas can be considered as reliable climate indicators. In this study، the most important climatic factors defining the distribution of this species were investigated to develop its distributional model for climatic change studies purposes and predicting wildlife movements. The distribution records of Afghan Pika in Iran in combination with the presence/absence location data in 120 points، and climatic and elevation of those locations were analyzed using a binary logistic regression. The results depicted that the most important climatic factors that describe the presence of the Afghan Pika in Iran are the monthly mean of the daily average temperature، average relative humidity، number of days with maximum 0ºc، and number of days with minimum -4ºC، and the altitude. The results suggest that this model can be used as the suitable habitats for this species.

The aim of this research was to study the genetic structure of the Afghan Pika’s (Ochotona rufescens) populations in Northern Khorasan province in order to determine their isolation rate. A total of 122 samples from four sample groups (Ghorkhod, Golol-Sarani, Salouk and Sarigol) were selected and the genotypic features were detected using 7 microsatellite loci. The results showed that all of the loci were subject to polymorphism and the allele ranged from 2 – 7. Significant Fst and Rst values were found among the populations based on the AMOVA test. Based on the Assignment Test, more than 90 percent of the individuals of the populations belonged to their original population (only 10 percent of the individuals belonged to other populations). A Paired comparison of genetic differentiation between the populations revealed significant deferences among them. The results of the Prichard model grouping showed that the samples collected in this study were approximately 7 groups. The results of AMOVA analysis revealed a significant genetic structure among different populations. Also, the majority of the variance is related to the variance within the population. There seems to be a different but small genetic structure among the studied populations.

This study was carried out for genetic diversity of Afghan Pika (Ochotona rufescens) among four different populations in Northern Khorasan Province using D-Loop region of mitochondrial gene. The sixteen specimens were trapped from four different sanctuaries (Ghorkhod، Golol-Sarani، Salouk and Sarigol) and transferred to Laboratory. The intra and inter population genetic factors (haplotype and nucleotide diversity، haplotype differentiation among populations، Fst، Nm، gamma distribution parameter، mismatch distribution، Tajima''D neutrality test and Isolation by distance) were estimated and the results were compared among the populations. Finally، data set with 483 bp was used for each individual. The results showed 25 polymorphic، 457 conserved sites and 10 different haplotypes. The low value of Fst (Fst=0. 21، P<0. 05) among populations based on D-Loop region of mitochondrial gene showed that genetic differentiation among populations were low and gene flow between populations were high. Mantel test (10000 irritations) showed that the relationship between distance and genetic matrix among all individuals (r=0. 172، P=0. 057) and among populations (r=-0. 64، P=0. 159) were not significance and IBD did not occur. Discrete gamma distribution for estimating heterogeneity rate among populations was 200 which indicated low mutation or heterogeneity rate among the four populations. The Rogers-Harpending index for mismatch distribution (0. 08، P>0. 5) and Tajima ''D test (0. 37، P>0. 1) showed no population expansion and relatively stable population sizes.

In this research the glir,s tooth remains from four caves and rockshelter sites in west and north west of Iran have been reported. Recent archaeological surveys andexcavations by Center for Paleolithic Research of National Museum of Iran and two other institutions, along other remains, have yielded rich assemblages of microvertebrate remains. The cave sites are Yafteh, Gar Arjeneh and Qalaloun (Lorestan), and Kani Mikaeil (Kordestan) that have been surveyed or excavated during 2001 to 2005. Except assemblages from Yafteh and Kani Mikaeil which are excavated and collected through systematic dry sieving, two other assemblages are collected fromback dirt of looters pits in those sites. The tooth remains were belong to five families including; 1) Muridae: Meriones sp. Tatera indica, Chionomys cf. nivalis, Microtus socialis,Arvicola terresteris., Ellobius cf. lutescens, Nesokia indica, Cricetulus migratorius, Mesocricetus auratus, Rattus rattus, Mus musculus 2) Calomysidae: Calomyscus bailwardi 3) Dipodidae: Allactaga williamsi, Jaculus sp. 4) Ochotonidae: Ochotona rufescens 5) Leporidae: Lepus sp.This research in based on morphologic and morphometric methods using modern comparative neontological specimens of the osteological collection. Also taphonomic and paleoenviromental aspects in the Zagros are discussed.

In this study, rodent’s assemblages from Jiroft and Anbarabad townships in the southeast Iran, were studied. A total of 62 specimens were collected and identified during the period of June 2011 until September, 2012. The collected specimens consist of 10 species belonging to 10 genera and three families including: Muridae (Golunda ellioti, Acomys dimidiatus, Tatera indica, Nesokia indica, Meriones persicus, Mus musculus, Apodemus witherbyi, Rattus rattus), Cricetidae (Cricetulus migratorius), Ochotonidae (Ochotona rufescens). Standard external morphological and morphometric characteristics, including cranial and dental characters are given. The family Muridae with eight species, showed the highest diversity among the families represented here. Tatera indica showed the high frequency compare to other species examined in this study. Golunda ellioti Gray, 1837 and Acomys dimidiatus Cretzschmar, 1826 (Muridae, Rodentia) areas are recorded for the first time from southeast of Iran.

Today most destruction of environmental is the habitats. Hence, the need for methods that can help them to evaluate the habitat, and the over time obtained quality in this habitat. In this study was performed habitat evaluation of the Afghan Pika with Habitat Evaluation Procedure (HEP) and Binary logistic regression. Then, the results of these two methods were compared. Major factors as a variable habitat for species habitat evaluation were measured included: Average of the dominant slope, the aspect, altitude and land cover. Results of the two methods of modeling suggest that land-cover variable has an important role in the Pika habitat suitability which for this species is in rocky areas with cliffs and slopes over 30 degrees with small spaces between the rocks and also the geographical aspects which this species preferred are from north to south. Results showed that the height depending on other variables can be positive or negative, and usually in this region pikas live at altitudes between 2100 to 2300m. Finally, we obtained a model for Pika Habitat Suitability Index (HIS) and also models to predict the Pika presence.