Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s in the
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
Leporidae
Leporidae is the family of rabbits and hares, containing over 60 species of extant mammals in all. The Latin word ''Leporidae'' means "those that resemble ''lepus''" (hare). Together with the pikas, the Leporidae constitute the mammalian order ...
(which also contains the
hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
s) of the
order Lagomorpha
The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families: the Leporidae (hares and rabbits) and the Ochotonidae (pikas). The name of the order is derived from the Ancient Greek ''lagos'' (λαγ ...
(which also contains the
pika
A pika ( or ; archaically spelled pica) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal found in Asia and North America. With short limbs, very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative, the rabbit, but wi ...
s). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the
European rabbit
The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has ...
species and its descendants, the world's
305 breeds of
domestic rabbit
A domestic or domesticated rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus'')—more commonly known as a pet rabbit, bunny, bun, or bunny rabbit—is a subspecies of European rabbit, a member of the lagomorph family. A male rabbit is known as a ''bu ...
. ''Sylvilagus'' includes 13 wild rabbit species, among them the seven types of
cottontail
Cottontail rabbits are the leporid species in the genus ''Sylvilagus'', found in the Americas. Most ''Sylvilagus'' species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. However, this ...
. The European rabbit, which has been introduced on every continent except Antarctica, is familiar throughout the world as a wild prey animal and as a domesticated form of livestock and pet. With its widespread effect on ecologies and cultures, the rabbit is, in many areas of the world, a part of daily life—as food, clothing, a companion, and a source of artistic inspiration.
Although once considered
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s, lagomorphs like rabbits have been discovered to have diverged separately and earlier than their rodent cousins and have a number of traits rodents lack, like two extra
incisor
Incisors (from Latin ''incidere'', "to cut") are the front teeth present in most mammals. They are located in the premaxilla above and on the mandible below. Humans have a total of eight (two on each side, top and bottom). Opossums have 18, whe ...
s.
Terminology and etymology
A male rabbit is called a ''buck''; a female is called a ''doe''. An older term for an adult rabbit used until the 18th century is ''coney'' (derived ultimately from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
), while ''rabbit'' once referred only to the young animals.
Another term for a young rabbit is ''bunny'', though this term is often applied informally (particularly by children) to rabbits generally, especially domestic ones. More recently, the term ''kit'' or ''kitten'' has been used to refer to a young rabbit.
A group of rabbits is known as a ''colony'' or ''nest'' (or, occasionally, a ''warren'', though this more commonly refers to where the rabbits live). A group of baby rabbits produced from a single mating is referred to as a ''litter'' and a group of domestic rabbits living together is sometimes called a ''herd''.
The word rabbit itself derives from the
Middle English
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...
, a borrowing from the
Walloon , which was a diminutive of the
French or
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or c. 1550, there was no overarch ...
.
Taxonomy
Rabbits and hares were formerly classified in the order
Rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
ia (rodent) until 1912, when they were moved into a new order,
Lagomorpha
The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families: the Leporidae (hares and rabbits) and the Ochotonidae (pikas). The name of the order is derived from the Ancient Greek ''lagos'' (λαγ ...
(which also includes
pika
A pika ( or ; archaically spelled pica) is a small, mountain-dwelling mammal found in Asia and North America. With short limbs, very round body, an even coat of fur, and no external tail, they resemble their close relative, the rabbit, but wi ...
s). Below are some of the genera and species of the rabbit.
File:BRACHYLAGUS IDAHOENSIS.jpg, alt=A small, round, dust-coloured rabbit with upright, close-set ears sat on the ground amidst dead branches., ''Brachylagus idahoensis''Pygmy rabbit
File:Sumatran Striped Rabbit Recontruction.jpg, alt=A model of a relatively large rabbit, with a slightly longer face and shorter, rounder ears, and fur patterned black and gold., ''Nesolagus netscheri''Sumatran Striped Rabbit''(Model)''
File:Oryctolagus cuniculus Tasmania 2.jpg, alt=A small, light-brown rabbit with upright ears sat on some grass., ''Oryctolagus cuniculus''European rabbit''(Feral Tasmanian specimen)''
File:Amami rabbit Stuffed specimen.jpg, alt=A taxidermy of a large rabbit with dark brown fur, small, thin ears and an elongated, rodent-like face., ''Pentalagus furnessi''Amami rabbit''(Taxidermy specimen)''
File:Taxidermied romerolagus diazi.JPG, alt=A taxidermy of a very small light-brown rabbit mid-gallop. Its features are equally small, appearing similar to a vole., ''Romerolagus diazi''Volcano rabbit''(Taxidermy specimen)''
File:Southern swamp rabbit baby.jpg, alt=A juvenile rabbit sat on a white person's hand; its fur is a light brown ticked heavily with dark brown. It is not quite large enough to fill the person's hand completely., ''Sylvilagus aquaticus''Swamp rabbit''(Juvenile)''
File:What's Up Doc.jpg, alt=A medium-sized rabbit with light brown fur ticked with grey, its ears large and upright. It stands on all fours on some sandy ground., ''Sylvilagus audubonii''Desert cottontail
File:Sylvilagus bachmani 01035t.JPG, alt=A light-brown rabbit sitting in a field, its body unusually large and squat, its limbs and head small, and its ears especially small, ''Sylvilagus bachmani''Brush rabbit
File:Sylvilagus brasiliensis meridensis (Sylvilagus meridensis) - Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria - Genoa, Italy - DSC02875.JPG, alt=A taxidermy of a small rabbit, its fur a warm brown ticked with a darker brown, its ears small and set back, its face closer to a vole's than a rabbit's , ''Sylvilagus brasiliensis''Tapeti''(Taxidermy specimen)''
File:Eastern Cottontail.JPG, alt=A rabbit sitting upright in a field, turning to face the camera, its fur a light brown ticked with grey and dark brown, its ears upright , ''Sylvilagus floridanus''Eastern cottontail
* Order
Lagomorpha
The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families: the Leporidae (hares and rabbits) and the Ochotonidae (pikas). The name of the order is derived from the Ancient Greek ''lagos'' (λαγ ...
** Family
Leporidae
Leporidae is the family of rabbits and hares, containing over 60 species of extant mammals in all. The Latin word ''Leporidae'' means "those that resemble ''lepus''" (hare). Together with the pikas, the Leporidae constitute the mammalian order ...
(in part)
* Genus ''
Brachylagus''
**
Pygmy rabbit
The pygmy rabbit (''Brachylagus idahoensis'') is a rabbit species native to the United States. It is also the only native rabbit species in North America to dig its own burrow. The pygmy rabbit differs significantly from species within either the ...
, ''Brachylagus idahoensis''
* Genus ''
Bunolagus
The riverine rabbit (''Bunolagus monticularis''), also known as the bushman rabbit or bushman hare, is a rabbit with an extremely limited distribution area, found only in the central and southern regions of the Karoo Desert of South Africa's No ...
''
**
Bushman rabbit
The riverine rabbit (''Bunolagus monticularis''), also known as the bushman rabbit or bushman hare, is a rabbit with an extremely limited distribution area, found only in the central and southern regions of the Karoo Desert of South Africa's No ...
, ''Bunolagus monticularis''
* Genus ''
Lepus
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The gen ...
''
* Genus ''
Nesolagus
''Nesolagus'' is a genus of rabbits containing three species of striped rabbit: the Annamite striped rabbit, the Sumatran striped rabbit, and the extinct species ''N. sinensis''. Overall there is very little known about the genus as a whole, mo ...
''
**
Sumatran striped rabbit
The Sumatran striped rabbit (''Nesolagus netscheri''), also known as the Sumatra short-eared rabbit or Sumatran rabbit, is a rabbit found only in forests in the Barisan Mountains in western Sumatra, Indonesia, and surrounding areas. It is threaten ...
, ''Nesolagus netscheri''
**
Annamite striped rabbit
The Annamite striped rabbit (''Nesolagus timminsi'') is a species of rabbit native to the Annamite Chain, Annamite mountain range on the Laos-Vietnam border. The rabbit is striped, with a red rump, and resembles the Sumatran striped rabbit. It on ...
, ''Nesolagus timminsi''
* Genus ''
Oryctolagus
''Oryctolagus'' is a genus of lagomorph that today contains the European rabbit and its descendant, the domestic rabbit, as well as several fossil species.
The generic name derives from Ancient Greek ὀρυκτός (''oryktos'', “dug up”) ...
''
**
European rabbit
The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has ...
, ''Oryctolagus cuniculus''
* Genus ''
Pentalagus
The Amami rabbit (''Pentalagus furnessi''; ), or , also known as the Ryukyu rabbit is a dark-furred rabbit which is only found in Amami Ōshima and Toku-no-Shima, two small islands between southern Kyūshū and Okinawa in Kagoshima Prefecture ...
''
**
Amami rabbit/Ryūkyū rabbit, ''Pentalagus furnessi''
* Genus ''
Poelagus
The Bunyoro rabbit or Central African rabbit (''Poelagus marjorita'') is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Poelagus''.ITIS: Poelagus', listing only one species. Accessed 2012-10-26. It is found in c ...
''
**
Central African Rabbit
The Bunyoro rabbit or Central African rabbit (''Poelagus marjorita'') is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae. It is monotypic within the genus ''Poelagus''.ITIS: Poelagus', listing only one species. Accessed 2012-10-26. It is found in ce ...
, ''Poelagus marjorita''
* Genus ''
Romerolagus
The volcano rabbit (''Romerolagus diazi''), also known as teporingo or zacatuche, is a small rabbit that resides in the mountains of Mexico.Hoth, J., A. Velázquez F. Romero, L. León, M. Aranda and D. Bell, 1987. The Volcano Rabbit- a Shrinking ...
''
**
Volcano rabbit
The volcano rabbit (''Romerolagus diazi''), also known as teporingo or zacatuche, is a small rabbit that resides in the mountains of Mexico.Hoth, J., A. Velázquez F. Romero, L. León, M. Aranda and D. Bell, 1987. The Volcano Rabbit- a Shrinking ...
, ''Romerolagus diazi''
* Genus ''
Sylvilagus
Cottontail rabbits are the leporid species in the genus ''Sylvilagus'', found in the Americas. Most ''Sylvilagus'' species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. However, this ...
''
**
Swamp rabbit, ''Sylvilagus aquaticus''
**
Desert cottontail
The desert cottontail (''Sylvilagus audubonii''), also known as Audubon's cottontail, is a New World cottontail rabbit, and a member of the family Leporidae. Unlike the European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus''), they do not form social burrow s ...
, ''Sylvilagus audubonii''
**
Brush rabbit
The brush rabbit (''Sylvilagus bachmani''), or western brush rabbit, or Californian brush rabbit, is a species of cottontail rabbit found in western coastal regions of North America, from the Columbia River in Oregon to the southern tip of the ...
, ''Sylvilagus bachmani''
**
Forest rabbit
The common tapeti (''Sylvilagus brasiliensis''), also known as the Brazilian cottontail, forest cottontail, or (formerly) simply tapeti is a species of cottontail rabbit. It is small to medium-sized with a small, dark tail, short hind feet, and s ...
, ''Sylvilagus brasiliensis''
**
Mexican cottontail
The Mexican cottontail (''Sylvilagus cunicularius'') is a species of cottontail rabbit in the family Leporidae. It is endemic to Mexico where its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry forests and pastureland.
Taxono ...
, ''Sylvilagus cunicularis''
**
Dice's cottontail
Dice's cottontail (''Sylvilagus dicei'') is a species of cottontail rabbit in the family Leporidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama, in páramo and cloud forest habitats.
Taxonomy
Dice's cottontail was Species description, first described by ...
, ''Sylvilagus dicei''
**
Eastern cottontail
The eastern cottontail (''Sylvilagus floridanus'') is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is the most common rabbit species in North America.
Distribution
The eastern cottontail can be found in meadows and shrubby ...
, ''Sylvilagus floridanus''
**
Tres Marias rabbit
The Tres Marias cottontail or Tres Marias rabbit (''Sylvilagus graysoni'') is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae. Distribution and habitat
It is endemic to the Tres Marias Islands, part of the Mexican state of Nayarit. The rabbit is ...
, ''Sylvilagus graysoni''
**
Omilteme cottontail
The Omilteme cottontail (''Sylvilagus insonus'') is a cottontail rabbit found only in the state of Guerrero, Mexico in the mountain range of Sierra Madre del Sur. Belonging to the family Leporidae, it is one of fourteen species in the genus ''Sy ...
, ''Sylvilagus insonus''
**
San Jose brush rabbit, ''Sylvilagus mansuetus''
**
Mountain cottontail
The mountain cottontail or Nuttall's cottontail (''Sylvilagus nuttallii'') is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae. It is found in Canada and the United States.
Description
The mountain cottontail is a small rabbit but its size is rel ...
, ''Sylvilagus nuttallii''
**
Marsh rabbit
The marsh rabbit (''Sylvilagus palustris'') is a small cottontail rabbit found in marshes and swamps of coastal regions of the Eastern and Southern United States. It is a strong swimmer and found only near regions of water. It is similar in app ...
, ''Sylvilagus palustris''
**
New England cottontail
The New England cottontail (''Sylvilagus transitionalis''), also called the gray rabbit, brush rabbit, wood hare, wood rabbit, or cooney, is a species of cottontail rabbit represented by fragmented populations in areas of New England, specificall ...
, ''Sylvilagus transitionalis''
Differences from hares
The term "rabbit" is typically used for all Leporidae species excluding the genus ''Lepus''. Members of that genus are instead known as hares or jackrabbits.
''Lepus'' species are typically
precocial
In biology, altricial species are those in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth. Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the mome ...
, born relatively mature and mobile with hair and good vision, while rabbit species are
altricial
In biology, altricial species are those in which the young are underdeveloped at the time of birth, but with the aid of their parents mature after birth. Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the mome ...
, born hairless and blind, and requiring closer care. Hares live a relatively solitary life in a simple nest above the ground, while most rabbits live in social groups in
burrows or warrens. Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with ears that are more elongated, and with hind legs that are larger and longer. Descendants of the
European rabbit
The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has ...
are commonly bred as livestock and kept as
pet
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...
s, whereas no hares have been
domesticated
Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...
- the breed called the
Belgian hare
The Belgian Hare is a "fancy" (i.e., non-utilitarian) breed of domestic rabbit that has been selectively bred to resemble the wild European hare. It is a rabbit rather than a true hare. Averaging , the Belgian Hare is known for its slender and w ...
is actually a
domestic rabbit
A domestic or domesticated rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus'')—more commonly known as a pet rabbit, bunny, bun, or bunny rabbit—is a subspecies of European rabbit, a member of the lagomorph family. A male rabbit is known as a ''bu ...
which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare.
Domestication
Rabbits have long been domesticated. Beginning in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, the European rabbit has been widely kept as
livestock
Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...
, starting in
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 B ...
.
Selective breeding
Selective breeding (also called artificial selection) is the process by which humans use animal breeding and plant breeding to selectively develop particular phenotypic traits (characteristics) by choosing which typically animal or plant mal ...
has generated a
wide variety of rabbit breeds, of which many (since the early 19th century) are also kept as
pet
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence, ...
s. Some
strains of rabbit have been bred specifically as
research subjects.
As livestock, rabbits are bred for their
meat
Meat is animal flesh that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted, farmed, and scavenged animals for meat since prehistoric times. The establishment of settlements in the Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of animals such as chic ...
and
fur
Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
. The earliest breeds were important sources of meat, and so became larger than wild rabbits, but domestic rabbits in modern times range in size from
dwarf
Dwarf or dwarves may refer to:
Common uses
*Dwarf (folklore), a being from Germanic mythology and folklore
* Dwarf, a person or animal with dwarfism
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* Dwarf (''Dungeons & Dragons''), a humanoid ...
to
giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
. Rabbit fur, prized for its softness, can be found in a broad range of
coat
A coat typically is an outer garment for the upper body as worn by either gender for warmth or fashion. Coats typically have long sleeves and are open down the front and closing by means of buttons, zippers, hook-and-loop fasteners, toggles, a ...
colors and patterns, as well as lengths. The
Angora rabbit
The Angora rabbit ( tr, Ankara tavşanı), which is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, is bred for the long fibers of its coat, known as ''Angora wool'', which are gathered by shearing, combing or plucking. Because rabbits do not possess ...
breed, for example, was developed for its long, silky fur, which is often
hand-spun into yarn. Other domestic rabbit breeds have been developed primarily for the commercial
fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...
, including the
Rex, which has a short
plush
Plush (from French language, French ) is a textile having a cut nap (textile), nap or pile (textile), pile the same as fustian or velvet. Its softness of feel gave rise to the adjective "plush" to describe something soft or luxurious, which was e ...
coat.
Biology
![Set of wax models showing development of the rabbit heart, twentieth century (24226156252)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Set_of_wax_models_showing_development_of_the_rabbit_heart%2C_twentieth_century_%2824226156252%29.jpg)
Evolution
Because the rabbit's
epiglottis
The epiglottis is a leaf-shaped flap in the throat that prevents food and water from entering the trachea and the lungs. It stays open during breathing, allowing air into the larynx. During swallowing, it closes to prevent aspiration of food int ...
is engaged over the soft palate except when swallowing, the rabbit is an
obligate nasal breather. Rabbits have two sets of incisor teeth, one behind the other. This way they can be distinguished from
rodent
Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are na ...
s, with which they are often confused.
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
originally grouped rabbits and rodents under the class
Glires
Glires (, Latin ''glīrēs'' 'dormice') is a clade (sometimes ranked as a grandorder) consisting of rodents and lagomorphs ( rabbits, hares, and pikas). The hypothesis that these form a monophyletic group has been long debated based on morp ...
; later, they were separated as the scientific consensus is that many of their similarities were a result of
convergent evolution
Convergent evolution is the independent evolution of similar features in species of different periods or epochs in time. Convergent evolution creates analogous structures that have similar form or function but were not present in the last com ...
. Recent DNA analysis and the discovery of a common ancestor has supported the view that they share a common lineage, so rabbits and rodents are now often grouped together in the superorder Glires.
Morphology
![Cmglee Horniman rabbit skin skeleton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9b/Cmglee_Horniman_rabbit_skin_skeleton.jpg)
Since speed and agility are a rabbit's main defenses against predators (including the swift fox), rabbits have large hind leg bones and well developed musculature. Though
plantigrade
151px, Portion of a human skeleton, showing plantigrade habit
In terrestrial animals, plantigrade locomotion means walking with the toes and metatarsals flat on the ground. It is one of three forms of locomotion adopted by terrestrial mammals. T ...
at rest, rabbits are on their toes while running, assuming a more
digitigrade
In terrestrial vertebrates, digitigrade () locomotion is walking or running on the toes (from the Latin ''digitus'', 'finger', and ''gradior'', 'walk'). A digitigrade animal is one that stands or walks with its toes (metatarsals) touching the groun ...
posture. Rabbits use their strong claws for digging and (along with their teeth) for defense. Each front foot has four toes plus a
dewclaw
A dewclaw is a digit – vestigial in some animals – on the foot of many mammals, birds, and reptiles (including some extinct orders, like certain theropods). It commonly grows higher on the leg than the rest of the foot, such that in digit ...
. Each hind foot has four toes (but no dewclaw).
![Wild black Oryctologus cuniculus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Wild_black_Oryctologus_cuniculus.jpg)
Most wild rabbits (especially
compared to hares) have relatively full, egg-shaped bodies. The soft coat of the wild rabbit is
agouti
The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Middle America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have also been introduced else ...
in coloration (or, rarely,
melanistic
The term melanism refers to black pigment and is derived from the gr, μελανός. Melanism is the increased development of the dark-colored pigment melanin in the skin or hair.
Pseudomelanism, also called abundism, is another variant of pi ...
), which aids in
camouflage
Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...
. The tail of the rabbit (with the exception of the
cottontail species) is dark on top and white below. Cottontails have white on the top of their tails.
As a result of the position of the eyes in its skull, the rabbit has a field of vision that encompasses nearly 360 degrees, with just a small blind spot at the bridge of the nose.
Hind limb elements
![Rabbit hind limb skeleton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Rabbit_hind_limb_skeleton.jpg)
The anatomy of rabbits' hind limbs are structurally similar to that of other land mammals and contribute to their specialized form of locomotion. The bones of the hind limbs consist of long bones (the femur, tibia, fibula, and phalanges) as well as short bones (the tarsals). These bones are created through
endochondral ossification
Endochondral ossification is one of the two essential processes during fetal development of the mammalian skeletal system by which bone tissue is produced. Unlike intramembranous ossification, the other process by which bone tissue is produced, c ...
during development. Like most land mammals, the round head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum of the os coxae. The femur articulates with the tibia, but not the fibula, which is fused to the tibia. The tibia and fibula articulate with the tarsals of the pes, commonly called the foot. The hind limbs of the rabbit are longer than the front limbs. This allows them to produce their hopping form of locomotion. Longer hind limbs are more capable of producing faster speeds.
Hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
s, which have longer legs than
cottontail rabbit
Cottontail rabbits are the leporid species in the genus ''Sylvilagus'', found in the Americas. Most ''Sylvilagus'' species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name. However, this ...
s, are able to move considerably faster. Rabbits stay just on their toes when moving; this is called
Digitigrade
In terrestrial vertebrates, digitigrade () locomotion is walking or running on the toes (from the Latin ''digitus'', 'finger', and ''gradior'', 'walk'). A digitigrade animal is one that stands or walks with its toes (metatarsals) touching the groun ...
locomotion. The hind feet have four long toes that allow for this and are webbed to prevent them from spreading when hopping. Rabbits do not have paw pads on their feet like most other animals that use digitigrade locomotion. Instead, they have coarse compressed hair that offers protection.
Musculature
![Lateral view of rabbit hind limb](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Lateral_view_of_rabbit_hind_limb.jpg)
Rabbits have muscled hind legs that allow for maximum force, maneuverability, and acceleration that is divided into three main parts; foot, thigh, and leg. The hind limbs of a rabbit are an exaggerated feature. They are much longer than the forelimbs, providing more force. Rabbits run on their toes to gain the optimal stride during locomotion. The force put out by the hind limbs is contributed to both the structural anatomy of the fusion tibia and fibula, and muscular features. Bone formation and removal, from a cellular standpoint, is directly correlated to hind limb muscles. Action pressure from muscles creates force that is then distributed through the skeletal structures. Rabbits that generate less force, putting less stress on bones are more prone to osteoporosis due to bone
rarefaction
Rarefaction is the reduction of an item's density, the opposite of compression. Like compression, which can travel in waves (sound waves, for instance), rarefaction waves also exist in nature. A common rarefaction wave is the area of low relativ ...
. In rabbits, the more fibers in a muscle, the more resistant to fatigue. For example,
hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
s have a greater resistance to fatigue than
cottontails. The muscles of rabbit's hind limbs can be classified into four main categories:
hamstring
In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury.
In quadrupeds, ...
s,
quadriceps
The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...
,
dorsiflexors, or
plantar flexors. The quadriceps muscles are in charge of force production when jumping. Complementing these muscles are the hamstrings, which aid in short bursts of action. These muscles play off of one another in the same way as the plantar flexors and dorsiflexors, contributing to the generation and actions associated with force.
Ears
![Holland Lop Ears UpDown](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Holland_Lop_Ears_UpDown.png)
Within the order
lagomorphs
The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two living families: the Leporidae ( hares and rabbits) and the Ochotonidae (pikas). The name of the order is derived from the Ancient Greek ''lagos'' (λα ...
, the ears are utilized to detect and avoid predators. In the family
Leporidae
Leporidae is the family of rabbits and hares, containing over 60 species of extant mammals in all. The Latin word ''Leporidae'' means "those that resemble ''lepus''" (hare). Together with the pikas, the Leporidae constitute the mammalian order ...
, the ears are typically longer than they are wide. For example, in
black tailed jack rabbits, their long ears cover a greater surface area relative to their body size that allow them to detect predators from far away. Contrasted to cotton tailed rabbits, their ears are smaller and shorter, requiring predators to be closer to detect them before they can flee. Evolution has favored rabbits having shorter ears so the larger surface area does not cause them to lose heat in more temperate regions. The opposite can be seen in rabbits that live in hotter climates, mainly because they possess longer ears that have a larger surface area that help with dispersion of heat as well as the theory that sound does not travel well in more arid air, opposed to cooler air. Therefore, longer ears are meant to aid the organism in detecting predators sooner rather than later in warmer temperatures.
The rabbit is characterized by its shorter ears while hares are characterized by their longer ears.
Rabbits' ears are an important structure to aid
thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperature ...
and detect predators due to how the outer, middle, and inner ear muscles coordinate with one another. The ear muscles also aid in maintaining balance and movement when fleeing predators.
Outer ear
The
auricle, also known as the pinna, is a rabbit's outer ear.
The rabbit's pinnae represent a fair part of the body surface area. It is theorized that the ears aid in dispersion of heat at temperatures above 30 °C with rabbits in warmer climates having longer pinnae due to this. Another theory is that the ears function as shock absorbers that could aid and stabilize rabbit's vision when fleeing predators, but this has typically only been seen in hares.
The rest of the outer ear has bent canals that lead to the
eardrum
In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear
The outer ear, external ear, or auris externa is the extern ...
or
tympanic membrane
In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear. Its function is to transmit sound from the air ...
.
Middle ear
The middle ear is filled with three bones called
ossicles
The ossicles (also called auditory ossicles) are three bones in either middle ear that are among the smallest bones in the human body. They serve to transmit sounds from the air to the fluid-filled labyrinth (cochlea). The absence of the auditory ...
and is separated by the outer eardrum in the back of the rabbit's skull. The three ossicles are called hammer, anvil, and stirrup and act to decrease sound before it hits the inner ear. In general, the ossicles act as a barrier to the inner ear for sound energy.
Inner ear
Inner ear fluid called
endolymph
Endolymph is the fluid contained in the membranous labyrinth of the inner ear. The major cation in endolymph is potassium, with the values of sodium and potassium concentration in the endolymph being 0.91 mM and 154 mM, respectively. I ...
receives the sound energy. After receiving the energy, later within the inner ear there are two parts: the
cochlea
The cochlea is the part of the inner ear involved in hearing. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.75 turns around its axis, the modiolus. A core component of the cochlea is the Organ of Corti, the sensory org ...
that utilizes sound waves from the ossicles and the
vestibular apparatus
The vestibular system, in vertebrates, is a sensory system that creates the sense of balance and spatial orientation for the purpose of coordinating motor coordination, movement with balance. Together with the cochlea, a part of the auditory syst ...
that manages the rabbit's position in regards to movement. Within the cochlea there is a
basilar membrane
The basilar membrane is a stiff structural element within the cochlea of the inner ear which separates two liquid-filled tubes that run along the coil of the cochlea, the scala media and the scala tympani. The basilar membrane moves up and down in ...
that contains sensory hair structures utilized to send nerve signals to the brain so it can recognize different sound frequencies. Within the vestibular apparatus the rabbit possesses three semicircular canals to help detect
angular motion
In physics, circular motion is a movement of an object along the circumference of a circle or rotation along a circular path. It can be uniform, with constant angular rate of rotation and constant speed, or non-uniform with a changing rate of r ...
.
Thermoregulation
![Jack Rabbit (14398629508)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Jack_Rabbit_%2814398629508%29.jpg)
Thermoregulation is the process that an organism utilizes to maintain an optimal body temperature independent of external conditions. This process is carried out by the pinnae, which takes up most of the rabbit's body surface and contain a vascular network and arteriovenous shunts. In a rabbit, the optimal body temperature is around 38.5–40℃. If their body temperature exceeds or does not meet this optimal temperature, the rabbit must return to homeostasis. Homeostasis of body temperature is maintained by the use of their large, highly vascularized ears that are able to change the amount of blood flow that passes through the ears.
Constriction and dilation of blood vessels in the ears are used to control the core body temperature of a rabbit. If the core temperature exceeds its optimal temperature greatly, blood flow is constricted to limit the amount of blood going through the vessels. With this constriction, there is only a limited amount of blood that is passing through the ears where ambient heat would be able to heat the blood that is flowing through the ears and therefore, increasing the body temperature. Constriction is also used when the ambient temperature is much lower than that of the rabbit's core body temperature. When the ears are constricted it again limits blood flow through the ears to conserve the optimal body temperature of the rabbit. If the ambient temperature is either 15 degrees above or below the optimal body temperature, the blood vessels will dilate. With the blood vessels being enlarged, the blood is able to pass through the large surface area, causing it to either heat or cool down.
During hot summers, the rabbit has the capability to stretch its pinnae, which allows for greater surface area and increase heat dissipation. In cold winters, the rabbit does the opposite and folds its ears in order to decrease its surface area to the ambient air, which would decrease their body temperature.
The jackrabbit has the largest ears within the ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' group. Their ears contribute to 17% of their total body surface area. Their large pinna were evolved to maintain homeostasis while in the extreme temperatures of the desert.
Respiratory system
![Dissected Rabbit Lungs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/33/Dissected_Rabbit_Lungs.jpg)
The rabbit's nasal cavity lies dorsal to the oral cavity, and the two compartments are separated by the hard and soft palate.
The nasal cavity itself is separated into a left and right side by a cartilage barrier, and it is covered in fine hairs that trap dust before it can enter the respiratory tract.
As the rabbit breathes, air flows in through the nostrils along the alar folds. From there, the air moves into the nasal cavity, also known as the nasopharynx, down through the trachea, through the larynx, and into the lungs.
The larynx functions as the rabbit's voice box, which enables it to produce a wide variety of sounds.
The trachea is a long tube embedded with cartilaginous rings that prevent the tube from collapsing as air moves in and out of the lungs. The trachea then splits into a left and right bronchus, which meet the lungs at a structure called the Root of the lung, hilum. From there, the bronchi split into progressively more narrow and numerous branches. The bronchi branch into bronchioles, into respiratory bronchioles, and ultimately terminate at the alveolar ducts. The branching that is typically found in rabbit lungs is a clear example of monopodial branching, in which smaller branches divide out laterally from a larger central branch.
The structure of the rabbit's nasal and oral cavities, necessitates breathing through the nose. This is due to the fact that the epiglottis is fixed to the backmost portion of the soft palate.
Within the oral cavity, a layer of tissue sits over the opening of the glottis, which blocks airflow from the oral cavity to the trachea.
The epiglottis functions to prevent the rabbit from aspirating on its food. Further, the presence of a soft and hard palate allow the rabbit to breathe through its nose while it feeds.
![Monopodial branching in Rabbit Lungs](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Monopodial_branching_in_Rabbit_Lungs.jpg)
Rabbits lungs are divided into four lobes: the cranial, middle, caudal, and accessory lobes. The right lung is made up of all four lobes, while the left lung only has two: the cranial and caudal lobes.
In order to provide space for the heart, the left cranial lobe of the lungs is significantly smaller than that of the right.
The diaphragm is a muscular structure that lies caudal to the lungs and contracts to facilitate respiration.
Digestion
Rabbits are herbivores that feed by grazing on grass and other leafy plants. Consequently, their diet contains large amounts of cellulose, which is hard to digest. Rabbits solve this problem via a form of hindgut fermentation. They pass two distinct types of feces: hard droppings and soft black viscous pellets, the latter of which are known as cecotroph, caecotrophs or "night droppings" and are immediately eaten (a behaviour known as ''coprophagy''). Rabbits reingest their own droppings (rather than Ruminant, chewing the cud as do cows and numerous other herbivores) to digest their food further and extract sufficient nutrients.
Rabbits graze heavily and rapidly for roughly the first half-hour of a grazing period (usually in the late afternoon), followed by about half an hour of more selective feeding. In this time, the rabbit will also excrete many hard fecal pellets, being waste pellets that will not be reingested. If the environment is relatively non-threatening, the rabbit will remain outdoors for many hours, grazing at intervals. While out of the burrow, the rabbit will occasionally reingest its soft, partially digested pellets; this is rarely observed, since the pellets are reingested as they are produced.
Hard pellets are made up of hay-like fragments of plant cuticle and stalk, being the final waste product after redigestion of soft pellets. These are only released outside the burrow and are not reingested. Soft pellets are usually produced several hours after grazing, after the hard pellets have all been excreted. They are made up of micro-organisms and undigested plant cell walls.
Rabbits are hindgut digesters. This means that most of their digestion takes place in their large intestine and cecum. In rabbits, the cecum is about 10 times bigger than the stomach and it along with the large intestine makes up roughly 40% of the rabbit's digestive tract. The unique musculature of the cecum allows the intestinal tract of the rabbit to separate fibrous material from more digestible material; the fibrous material is passed as feces, while the more nutritious material is encased in a mucous lining as a cecotropes, cecotrope. Cecotropes, sometimes called "night feces", are high in minerals, vitamins and proteins that are necessary to the rabbit's health. Rabbits eat these to meet their nutritional requirements; the mucous coating allows the nutrients to pass through the acidic stomach for digestion in the intestines. This process allows rabbits to extract the necessary nutrients from their food.
The chewed plant material collects in the large cecum, a secondary chamber between the large and small intestine containing large quantities of symbiotic bacteria that help with the digestion of cellulose and also produce certain B vitamins. The pellets are about 56% bacteria by dry weight, largely accounting for the pellets being 24.4% protein on average. The soft feces form here and contain up to five times the vitamins of hard feces. After being excreted, they are eaten whole by the rabbit and redigested in a special part of the stomach. The pellets remain intact for up to six hours in the stomach; the bacteria within continue to digest the plant carbohydrates. This double-digestion process enables rabbits to use nutrients that they may have missed during the first passage through the gut, as well as the nutrients formed by the microbial activity and thus ensures that maximum nutrition is derived from the food they eat.
This process serves the same purpose in the rabbit as ruminant, rumination does in cattle and sheep.
Because rabbits cannot vomit, if buildup occurs within the intestines (due often to a diet with insufficient fibre), intestinal blockage can occur.
Reproduction
![Male rabbit reproduction system](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Male_rabbit_reproduction_system.png)
The adult male reproductive system forms the same as most mammals with the seminiferous tubular compartment containing the Sertoli cells and an adluminal compartment that contains the Leydig cells.
The Leydig cells produce testosterone, which maintains libido
and creates secondary sex characteristics such as the genital tubercle and penis. The Sertoli cells triggers the production of Anti-Müllerian hormone, Anti-Müllerian duct hormone, which absorbs the Müllerian duct. In an adult male rabbit, the sheath of the penis is cylinder-like and can be extruded as early as two months of age.
The scrotal sacs lay lateral to the penis and contain Epididymis, epididymal fat pads which protect the testes. Between 10 and 14 weeks, the testes descend and are able to retract into the pelvic cavity in order to thermoregulate.
Furthermore, the secondary sex characteristics, such as the testes, are complex and secrete many compounds. These compounds includes fructose, citric acid, minerals, and a uniquely high amount of catalase.
![Female repro system labelled](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Female_repro_system_labelled.JPG)
The adult female reproductive tract is Bipartite uterus, bipartite, which prevents an embryo from translocating between uteri. The two uterine horns communicate to two cervixes and forms one vaginal canal. Along with being bipartite, the female rabbit does not go through an Estrous cycle, estrus cycle, which causes mating induced ovulation (animals), induced ovulation.
The average female rabbit becomes sexually mature at three to eight months of age and can conceive at any time of the year for the duration of her life. Egg and sperm production can begin to decline after three years.
During mating, the male rabbit will mount the female rabbit from behind and insert his penis into the female and make rapid pelvic hip thrusts. The encounter lasts only 20–40 seconds and after, the male will throw himself backwards off the female.
The rabbit gestation period is short and ranges from 28 to 36 days with an average period of 31 days. A longer gestation period will generally yield a smaller litter while shorter gestation periods will give birth to a larger litter. The size of a single litter can range from four to 12 kits allowing a female to deliver up to 60 new kits a year. After birth, the female can become pregnant again as early as the next day.
The mortality rates of embryos are high in rabbits and can be due to infection, trauma, poor nutrition and environmental stress so a high fertility rate is necessary to counter this.
Sleep
Rabbits may appear to be crepuscular, but their natural inclination is toward nocturnal activity. In 2011, the average sleep time of a rabbit in captivity was calculated at 8.4 hours per day. As with other prey animals, rabbits often sleep with their eyes open, so that sudden movements will awaken the rabbit to respond to potential danger.
Diseases and immunity
In addition to being at risk of disease from common pathogens such as ''Bordetella bronchiseptica'' and ''Escherichia coli'', rabbits can contract the virulent, species-specific viruses Rabbit haemorrhagic disease, RHD ("rabbit hemorrhagic disease", a form of calicivirus) or myxomatosis. Among the parasites that infect rabbits are tapeworms (such as ''Taenia serialis)'', external parasites (including fleas and mites), coccidia species, and ''Toxoplasma gondii''. Domesticated rabbits with a diet lacking in high fiber sources, such as hay and grass, are susceptible to potentially lethal gastrointestinal stasis. Rabbits and hares are almost never found to be infected with rabies and have not been known to transmit rabies to humans.
''Encephalitozoon cuniculi'', an obligate intracellular parasite is also capable of infecting many mammals including rabbits.
Rabbit immunity has significantly diverged from other tetrapods in the manner it employs immunoglobulin light chain#In other animals, immunoglobulin light chains.
[
] In one case McCartney-Francis ''et al.'', 1984 discover a unique additional disulfide bond between cysteine, Cys 80 in Vκ and Cys 171 in Cκ.
They suggest that this may serve to stabilise rabbit antibodies.
Meanwhile ' shows high amino acid divergence between domesticated types and feral animal, ferals derived from them.
This can be as high as 40%.
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease is caused by strains of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV) including rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus type 2, type 2 (RHDV2).
RHDV2 was detected for the first time in Washington state, USA in May 2022 and then in August once in Washington and twice in Oregon.
Ecology
![Rabbit 1hr old gnangarra](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Rabbit_1hr_old_gnangarra.jpg)
Rabbits are predator, prey animals and are therefore constantly aware of their surroundings. For instance, in Mediterranean Europe, rabbits are the main prey of red foxes, badgers, and Iberian lynxes. If confronted by a potential threat, a rabbit may freeze and observe then warn others in the warren with powerful thumps on the ground. Rabbits have a remarkably wide field of vision, and a good deal of it is devoted to overhead scanning. The doe (mother) is aware that she gives off scent which can attract predators, so she will stay away from the nest to avoid putting the kits (babies) in danger, returning the nest only a few times a day to feed the kits.
Rabbits survive predation by burrowing, hopping away in a zig-zag motion, and, if captured, delivering powerful kicks with their hind legs. Their strong teeth allow them to eat and to bite in order to escape a struggle. The longest-lived rabbit on record, a domesticated
European rabbit
The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has ...
living in Tasmania, died at age 18. The lifespan of wild rabbits is much shorter; the average longevity of an eastern cottontail, for instance, is less than one year.
Habitat and range
![Bunny rabbit at Alligator Bay, Beauvoir, France](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Bunny_rabbit_at_Alligator_Bay%2C_Beauvoir%2C_France.jpg)
Rabbit habitats include meadows, Woodland, woods, forests, grasslands, deserts and wetlands.
Rabbits live in groups, and the best known species, the
European rabbit
The European rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus'') or coney is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula (including Spain, Portugal, and southwestern France), western France, and the northern Atlas Mountains in northwest Africa. It has ...
, lives in burrows, or rabbit holes. A group of burrows is called a ''warren''.
More than half the world's rabbit population resides in North America.
They are also native to southwestern Europe, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, some islands of Japan, and in parts of Africa and South America. They are not naturally found in most of Eurasia, where a number of species of
hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
s are present. Rabbits first entered South America relatively recently, as part of the Great American Interchange. Much of the continent has just one species of rabbit, the tapeti, while most of South America's Southern Cone, southern cone is without rabbits.
The European rabbit has been introduced to many places around the world.
Rabbits have been Animals in space, launched into space orbit.
Environmental problems
![Rabbit fence Cobar October 1905](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Rabbit_fence_Cobar_October_1905.jpg)
Rabbits have been a source of environmental problems when introduced into the wild by humans. As a result of their appetites, and the rate at which they breed, feral rabbit depredation can be problematic for agriculture. Gassing (fumigation of warrens), Rabbit-proof fence, barriers (fences), shooting, snaring, and Rabbiting#Ferreting, ferreting have been used to control rabbit populations, but the most effective measures are diseases such as myxomatosis (''myxo'' or ''mixi'', colloquially) and Rabbit haemorrhagic disease virus, calicivirus. In Europe, where rabbits are farmed on a large scale, they are protected against myxomatosis and calicivirus with a genetically modified virus. The virus was developed in Spain, and is beneficial to rabbit farmers. If it were to make its way into wild populations in areas such as Australia, it could create a population boom, as those diseases are the most serious threats to rabbit survival. Rabbits in Australia and New Zealand are considered to be such a pest that land owners are legally obliged to control them.
As food and clothing
In some areas, wild rabbits and hares are hunted for their meat, a lean source of high quality protein. In the wild, such hunting is accomplished with the aid of trained falconry, falcons, Rabbiting#Ferreting, ferrets, or Hunting dogs, dogs, as well as with Trapping (Animal), snares or other traps, and rifles. A caught rabbit may be dispatched with a sharp blow to the back of its head, a practice from which the term ''rabbit punch'' is derived.
Wild leporids comprise a small portion of global rabbit-meat consumption. Domesticated descendants of the European rabbit ''(Oryctolagus cuniculus)'' that are bred and kept as livestock (a practice called cuniculture) account for the estimated 200 million tons of rabbit meat produced annually.
[Olivia Geng]
French Rabbit Heads: The Newest Delicacy in Chinese Cuisine
. The Wall Street Journal Blog, 13 June 2014 Approximately 1.2 billion rabbits are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide. In 1994, the countries with the highest consumption per capita of rabbit meat were Malta with , Italy with , and Cyprus with , falling to in Japan. The figure for the United States was per capita. The largest producers of rabbit meat in 1994 were China, Russia, Italy, France, and Spain.
[FAO - The Rabbit - Husbandry, health and production.](_blank)
Rabbit meat was once a common commodity in Sydney, Australia, but declined after the myxomatosis virus was intentionally introduced to control the exploding population of Rabbits in Australia, feral rabbits in the area.
In the United Kingdom, fresh rabbit is sold in butcher shops and markets, and some supermarkets sell frozen rabbit meat. At farmers markets there, including the famous Borough Market in London, rabbit carcasses are sometimes displayed hanging, unbutchered (in the traditional style), next to braces of pheasant or other small game. Rabbit meat is a feature of Moroccan cuisine, where it is cooked in a tajine with "raisins and grilled almonds added a few minutes before serving". In China, rabbit meat is particularly popular in Sichuan cuisine, with its stewed rabbit, spicy diced rabbit, BBQ-style rabbit, and even spicy rabbit heads, which have been compared to ''Wuhan duck, spicy duck neck''.
[ Rabbit meat is comparatively unpopular elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific.
An extremely rare infection associated with rabbits-as-food is tularemia (also known as ''rabbit fever''), which may be contracted from an infected rabbit. Hunters are at higher risk for tularemia because of the potential for inhaling the bacteria during the skinning process.
In addition to their meat, rabbits are used for their wool, ]fur
Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
, and Fur, pelts, as well as their nitrogen-rich manure and their high-protein milk. Production industries have developed domesticated rabbit breeds (such as the well-known Angora rabbit
The Angora rabbit ( tr, Ankara tavşanı), which is one of the oldest types of domestic rabbit, is bred for the long fibers of its coat, known as ''Angora wool'', which are gathered by shearing, combing or plucking. Because rabbits do not possess ...
) to efficiently fill these needs.
In art, literature, and culture
Rabbits are often used as a symbol of fertility or rebirth, and have long been associated with Spring (season), spring and Easter as the Easter Bunny. The species' role as a prey animal with few defenses evokes vulnerability and innocence, and in folklore and modern children's stories, rabbits often appear as sympathetic characters, able to connect easily with youth of all kinds (for example, the Velveteen Rabbit, or Thumper (Disney), Thumper in ''Bambi'').
With its reputation as a prolific breeder, the rabbit juxtaposes Human sexuality, sexuality with innocence, as in the Playboy Bunny. The rabbit (as a swift prey animal) is also known for its speed, agility, and endurance, symbolized (for example) by the marketing icons the Energizer Bunny and the Duracell Bunny.
Folklore
The rabbit often appears in folklore as the trickster archetype, as he uses his cunning to outwit his enemies.
* In Aztec mythology, a pantheon of four hundred rabbit gods known as Centzon Totochtin, led by Ometochtli or Two Rabbit, represented fertility, parties, and drunkenness.
* In Central Africa, the common hare (''Kalulu''), is "inevitably described" as a trickster figure.
* In Chinese folklore, rabbits accompany Chang'e (mythology), Chang'e on the Moon. In the Chinese New Year, the Rabbit (zodiac), zodiacal rabbit is one of the twelve celestial animals in the Chinese zodiac. Note that the Chinese zodiac#Chinese zodiac in other countries, Vietnamese zodiac includes a Cat (zodiac), zodiacal cat in place of the rabbit, possibly because rabbits did not inhabit Vietnam. The most common explanation is that the ancient Vietnamese word for "rabbit" ''(mao)'' sounds like the Chinese word for "cat" (wiktionary:卯, 卯, ''mao)''.
* In Culture of Japan, Japanese tradition, rabbits Moon rabbit, live on the Moon where they make mochi, the popular snack of mashed Glutinous rice, sticky rice. This comes from interpreting the pattern of dark patches on the moon as a rabbit standing on tiptoes on the left pounding on an Usu (Mortar), usu, a Japanese mortar.
* In Jewish folklore, rabbits (shfanim שפנים) are associated with cowardice, a usage still current in contemporary Israeli spoken Hebrew (similar to the English colloquial use of "chicken" to denote cowardice).
* In Korean mythology, as in Japanese, rabbits live on the moon making rice cakes ("Tteok" in Korean).
* In Anishinaabe traditional beliefs, held by the Ojibwe and some other Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native American peoples, Nanabozho, or Great Rabbit, is an important deity related to the creation of the world.
* A Vietnamese mythological story portrays the rabbit of innocence and youthfulness. The gods of the myth are shown to be hunting and killing rabbits to show off their power.
* Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism have associations with an ancient circular motif called the ''Three hares, three rabbits'' (or "three hares"). Its meaning ranges from "peace and tranquility", to purity or the Holy Trinity, to Kabbalah#Levels of the soul, Kabbalistic levels of the soul or to the Jewish diaspora. The tripartite symbol also appears in Three hares#Other uses and related designs, heraldry and even Three hares, tattoos.
The rabbit as trickster is a part of American popular culture, as Br'er Rabbit (from African-American folktales and, later, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney animation) and Bugs Bunny (the cartoon character from Warner Bros.#Warner's cartoons, Warner Bros.), for example.
Anthropomorphized rabbits have appeared in film and literature, in ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (the White Rabbit and the March Hare characters), in ''List of Watership Down characters, Watership Down'' (including the Watership Down (film), film and Watership Down (TV series), television adaptations), in ''Rabbit Hill'' (by Robert Lawson (author), Robert Lawson), and in the ''Peter Rabbit'' stories (by Beatrix Potter). In the 1920s ''Oswald the Lucky Rabbit'' was a popular cartoon character.
A rabbit's foot may be carried as an amulet, believed to bring protection and luck, good luck. This belief is found in many parts of the world, with the earliest use being recorded in Europe c. 600 BC.
On the Isle of Portland in Dorset, UK, the rabbit is said to be unlucky and even speaking the creature's name can cause upset among older island residents. This is thought to date back to early times in the local quarrying industry where (to save space) extracted stones that were not fit for sale were set aside in what became tall, unstable walls. The local rabbits' tendency to burrow there would weaken the walls and their collapse resulted in injuries or even death. Thus, invoking the name of the culprit became an unlucky act to be avoided. In the local culture to this day, the rabbit (when he has to be referred to) may instead be called a “long ears” or “underground mutton”, so as not to risk bringing a downfall upon oneself. While it was true 50 years ago that a pub on the island could be emptied by calling out the word "rabbit", this has become more fable than fact in modern times.
In other parts of Britain and in North America, invoking the rabbit's name may instead bring good luck. "Rabbit rabbit rabbit" is one variant of an Apotropaic magic, apotropaic or talismanic superstition that involves saying or repeating the word "rabbit" (or "rabbits" or "white rabbits" or some combination thereof) out loud upon waking on the first day of each month, because doing so will ensure good fortune for the duration of that month.
The "rabbit test" is a term, first used in 1949, for the Rabbit test, Friedman test, an early diagnostic tool for detecting a pregnancy in humans. It is a common misconception (or perhaps an urban legend) that the test-rabbit would die if the woman was pregnant. This led to the phrase "the rabbit died" becoming a euphemism for a positive pregnancy test.
File:Syrischer Maler von 1354 001.jpg, ''Rabbit fools Elephant by showing the reflection of the moon''. Illustration (from 1354) of the ''Panchatantra''
File:Blason ville fr Corbenay (Haute-Saône).svg, "Three hares, Three rabbits" motif, Coat of arms of Corbenay, France
File:PeterRabbit8.jpg, Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit
File:United States Eighth Air Force in Britain, 1942-1945 FRE39.jpg, WWII USAF pilot D. R. Emerson "with a rabbit's foot talisman, a gift from a New York girl friend"
File:Taddeo Crivelli (Italian, died about 1479, active about 1451 - 1479) - Saint Jerome in the Desert - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Saint Jerome in the Desert'', by Taddeo Crivelli (died about 1479)
[Note rabbit being chased by a domesticated hound]
See also
* Animal track
* Cuniculture
* Dwarf rabbit
* Hare games
* Jackalope
* Lethal dwarfism in rabbits
* List of animal names
* List of rabbit breeds
* Lop rabbit
* Rabbits in the arts
* Rabbit show jumping
References
Notes
Citations
Further reading
* Windling, Terri.
External links
American Rabbit Breeders Association
organization, which promotes all phases of rabbit keeping
House Rabbit Society
an activist organization that promotes keeping rabbits indoors
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Leporidae,
Articles containing video clips
Cosmopolitan mammals
Extant Ypresian first appearances
Herbivorous mammals
Mammal common names
Paraphyletic groups