The Tehuantepec jackrabbit (''Lepus flavigularis'') is a

jackrabbit 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 ...

endemic to Mexico.

Description

It is easily distinguished from other species by two black stripes that run from the base of the ears to the nape, and by its white flanks. Its underparts are white, its upperparts are bright-brown washed with black, the rump is gray, and the tail is black. It is one of the largest jackrabbits and has large ears and legs. Adults weigh about 3.5 to 4 kilograms.

Distribution

The Tehuantepec jackrabbit is a rare

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, and is only found along

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

s and

grass Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

s on the shores of a salt water

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...

connected to the

Gulf of Tehuantepec Gulf of Tehuantepec () is a large body of water on the Pacific coast of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, southeastern Mexico, at . Many (but not all) Pacific hurricanes form in or near this body of water. A strong, gale-force wind called the Tehuan ...

in the

Istmo de Tehuantepec Istmo de Tehuantepec is the largest region of the state of Oaxaca, located in southwestern Mexico. Geography It covers the southern part of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the shortest route between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean before t ...

region. Three small populations persist isolated from each other. The former distribution of the Tehuantepec jackrabbit is not documented in detail, but it is estimated that its historic geographic range along the Mexican Pacific Coast on the

Isthmus of Tehuantepec The Isthmus of Tehuantepec () is an isthmus in Mexico. It represents the shortest distance between the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean. Before the opening of the Panama Canal, it was a major overland transport route known simply as the Te ...

from

Salina Cruz Salina Cruz is a major seaport on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is the state's third-largest city and is the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. It is part of the Tehuantepec District in the west of the I ...

in Oaxaca to Tonalá in Chiapas, an area of perhaps only 5000 square km.

Habitat and ecology

Tropical dry savannas dominated by native grasses (''

Bouteloua ''Bouteloua'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. Members of the genus are commonly known as grama grass. Taxonomy and systematics The genus was named for Claudio and Esteban Boutelou, 19th-century Spanish botanists. David Griffiths ...

'', ''

Paspalum ''Paspalum'' is a genus of plants in the grass family. The group is widespread across much of Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas. Commonly known as paspalum, bahiagrasses, crowngrasses or dallis grasses, many of the species are tall pere ...

'') with an overstory of sparse bushes of nanche (''

Byrsonima crassifolia ''Byrsonima crassifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Malpighiaceae, native to tropical America. Common names used in English include nance, maricao cimun, craboo, and golden spoon. In Jamaica it is called hogberry. It's val ...

''), and scattered trees of morro (''

Crescentia ''Crescentia'' (calabash tree, huingo, krabasi, or kalebas) is a genus of six species of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to southern North America, the Caribbean, Central America northern South America. The species are modera ...

'') are selected by the Tehuantepec jackrabbit.Farías, V. 2004. Spatio-temporal ecology and habitat selection of the critically endangered tropical hare (''Lepus flavigularis'') in Oaxaca, Mexico. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Massachusetts, Amherst. The Tehuantepec Jackrabbit is also found in coastal grassy dunes with '' Opuntia decumbens'', ''

Opuntia tehuantepecana ''Opuntia'', commonly called prickly pear or pear cactus, is a genus of flowering plants in the cactus family Cactaceae. Prickly pears are also known as ''tuna'' (fruit), ''sabra'', ''nopal'' (paddle, plural ''nopales'') from the Nahuatl word f ...

'', and ''

Sabal mexicana ''Sabal mexicana'' is a species of palm tree that is native to far southern North America. Common names include Rio Grande palmetto, Mexican palmetto, Texas palmetto, Texas sabal palm, palmetto cabbage and palma de mícharos. The specific epith ...

''. Home ranges overlap with one or more individuals regardless of sex and age, and home range size is about 50 ha with core areas of 9 ha for adult jackrabbits. The Tehuantepec jackrabbit is

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

and

crepuscular In zoology, a crepuscular animal is one that is active primarily during the twilight period, being matutinal, vespertine, or both. This is distinguished from diurnal and nocturnal behavior, where an animal is active during the hours of daylig ...

, and during the diurnal hours it rests in forms under bushes or grasses. Native mammals that coexist with the Tehuantepec jackrabbit are the

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''), the

nine-banded armadillo The nine-banded armadillo (''Dasypus novemcinctus''), also known as the nine-banded long-nosed armadillo or common long-nosed armadillo, is a mammal found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos. It ...

(''Dasypus novemcinctus''), the

hooded A hood is a kind of headgear that covers most of the human head, head and neck, and sometimes the face. Hoods that cover mainly the sides and top of the head, and leave the face mostly or partly open may be worn for protection from the environm ...

and

western hog-nosed skunk The American hog-nosed skunk (''Conepatus leuconotus'') is a species of hog-nosed skunk from Central and North America, and is one of the largest skunks in the world, growing to lengths of up to . Recent work has concluded the western hog-nose ...

s (''Mephitis macroura'', ''Conepatus mesoleucus''), the

Virginia opossum The Virginia opossum (''Didelphis virginiana''), also known as the North American opossum, is the only opossum living north of Mexico, its range extending south into Central America. It is the northernmost marsupial in the world. In the United S ...

(''Didelphis marsupialis''), the

gray mouse opossum The grayish mouse opossum (''Tlacuatzin canescens'') is a species of opossum endemic to Mexico. It is the sole species in the genus ''Tlacuatzin''. Description The grayish mouse opossum is an unusually small opossum, measuring in total length, ...

(''Tlacuatzin canescens''), the

gray fox The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (''Urocyon littora ...

(''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), the

common raccoon The raccoon ( or , ''Procyon lotor''), sometimes called the common raccoon to distinguish it from other species, is a mammal native to North America. It is the largest of the procyonid family, having a body length of , and a body weight of . ...

(''Procyon lotor''), and the

coyote The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

(''Canis latrans''). Of these, the gray fox and the coyote are native predators of the Tehuantepec jackrabbit.

Reproduction

The Tehuantepec jackrabbit has a

polygynous Polygyny (; from Neoclassical Greek πολυγυνία (); ) is the most common and accepted form of polygamy around the world, entailing the marriage of a man with several women. Incidence Polygyny is more widespread in Africa than in any ...

mating system.Rioja, Tamara, et al.
Polygynous mating behavior in the endangered Tehuantepec jackrabbit (Lepus flavigularis)
" Western North American Naturalist 68.3 (2008): 343-349. The length of the breeding season may extend from February to December, with a peak in reproduction during the rainy season (from May to October). The litter size is one to four embryos, but the number of litters produced per female per year remains to be investigated.

Conservation

The Tehuantepec jackrabbit is listed as critically endangered in the Mexican Official Norm NOM-059-ECOL-2001, and as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

) Red List of Endangered Species.

Threats

The Tehuantepec jackrabbit is jeopardized by habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, small population size, and genetic isolation. Introduction of exotic grasses, frequent and induced fires, agricultural and cattle-raising activities, and human settlements are deteriorating the floristic diversity and native vegetation structure in savannas inhabited by Tehuantepec jackrabbits. Locally, the Tehuantepec jackrabbit is taken occasionally as subsistence hunting, and very occasionally as pets in rural communities. Predation by the gray fox and the coyote is the major cause of mortality of the jackrabbit. However, poachers may come from nearby cities and decimate populations in a few nights of hunting.

References

*Cervantes, F. A., and C. Lorenzo. 1997. Morphometric differentiation of rabbits (''Sylvilagus'' and ''Romerolagus'') and jackrabbits (''Lepus'') of Mexico. Gibier Faune Sauvage 14:405-425. *Sántis, E. C. 2002. Distribución y abundancia de la liebre endémica ''Lepus flavigularis'' y el conejo castellano ''Sylvilagus floridanus'' (Mammalia: Lagomorpha) en el Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, México. Tesis de Licenciado en Biología. Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas. Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, México. *Vargas, Z. 2001. Valoración de los vertebrados terrestres por los huaves y zapotecas de la zona lagunar del Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. Tesis de Maestría. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. Chiapas, México. *Villa, B., and F. A. Cervantes. 2003. Los mamíferos de México. Iberoamericana. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. México, D. F. 140 pp. and CD-rom. {{Taxonbar, from=Q664472 Lepus Endemic mammals of Mexico Fauna of the Southern Pacific dry forests Istmo de Tehuantepec Endangered biota of Mexico Endangered fauna of North America Mammals described in 1844 Taxa named by Johann Andreas Wagner