Ochotona rutila (Severtzov, 1873) . Izv. Obshch. Lyubit. Estestvozn., 8(2): 83.

TYPE LOCALITY: " ...in mountains near Vernyi [Alma-ata]... 7000-8000 ft. " [2134-2438m], Restricted by Shnitnikov (1936) to valley of Maly Alma-atinsk River, Zailisk Alatau Mtns, Kazakhstan (43°05'N, 77°10'E) .

DISTRIBUTION: Isolated ranges from the Pamirs (Tadzhikistan) to Ben Shan (SE Uzbezistan, Kirghizistan, SE Kazakhstan); perhaps N Afghanistan and E Xinjiang (China).

STATUS: This is a rare species, extremely sporadic in occurrence throughout its range, and common in only a few localities (A. T. Smith et al., 1990).

SYNONYMS: Monotypic.

COMMENTS: Apparently an allospecies of O. erythrotis, which has sometimes been included in rutila; see comments therein.