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As of 2017, there were at least 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 ...

in 70 countries around the world. A rabbit

breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...

is a distinct variety created through

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 ...

(or occasionally

natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...

) for specific characteristics, including size, fur (length, quality, or color),

feed conversion ratio In animal husbandry, feed conversion ratio (FCR) or feed conversion rate is a ratio or rate measuring of the efficiency with which the bodies of livestock convert animal feed into the desired output. For dairy cows, for example, the output is milk ...

, climate adaptability, or temperament. Groups such as the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) and the British Rabbit Council (BRC) coordinate and standardize the desired qualities of their recognized breeds, through promotion and exhibition. Each rabbit breed is considered to benefit when a reputable

breeder A breeder is a person who selectively breeds carefully selected mates, normally of the same breed to sexually reproduce offspring with specific, consistently replicable qualities and characteristics. This might be as a farmer, agriculturalist, ...

strives to emulate the purpose for the breed, often defined by the individual

breed standard In animal husbandry or animal fancy, a breed standard is a description of the characteristics of a hypothetical or ideal example of a breed. The description may include physical or morphological detail, genetic criteria, or criteria of athletic ...

by which it may be judged. The global diversity of breeds reflects the breadth of the rabbit's unique qualities. Listed below are 191 of the world's modern-day rabbit breeds.

Modern-day rabbit breeds

* indicates "Rabbits in COUNTRY or TERRITORY" links.

Scope

The table of modern-day rabbit breeds includes those that are: * recognized as a distinct breed by ARBA, the BRC, or another country's established organization for the national promotion of rabbit breeds, * recognized as "in development" for potential formal recognition (as judged by multiple authoritative sources), or * recognized as a distinct breed that resulted from natural selection (as judged by pertinent authoritative sources).

Terminology

Confusion sometimes arises regarding the name of a rabbit breed versus the name of a rabbit's color/pattern (or fur type). For example, ''

Harlequin Harlequin (; it, Arlecchino ; lmo, Arlechin, Bergamasque pronunciation ) is the best-known of the '' zanni'' or comic servant characters from the Italian '' commedia dell'arte'', associated with the city of Bergamo. The role is traditional ...

'' is the name of a breed whose color/pattern is known as ''harlequin.'' (This usage may have arisen from the

character, who, like this rabbit, always wears a

motley Motley is the traditional costume of the court jester, the motley fool, or the arlecchino character in '' commedia dell'arte''. The harlequin wears a patchwork of red, green and blue diamonds that is still a fashion motif. The word ''motley' ...

-colored check-patterned coat—and suggests that the rabbit may be equally impish.) The harlequin color/pattern is found now in a different breed of rabbit: the Tri-Colour Dutch, also known as the ''Harlequin Dutch''. Such evolutions in terminology pertain also to some fur types, where (for example) the '' Rex'' breed has ''rex'' fur, one new variety of which appears in the unusually ''"rexed"'' Astrex rabbit breed. It is sometimes difficult to ascertain which came first, the breed name or the color/pattern name (or fur-type name). What is certain is that in such situations the two at some point were synonymous but subsequent developments in other breeds (likely hinging on similar genetic changes) have caused the terms to diverge. The definition of a distinct

relies on clusters of complex individual gene-sets—clusters that may include the gene-set for a body type, the gene-set for an ear type, the gene-set for a color/pattern, and/or the gene-set for a fur type. The determination of when a group of rabbits is considered to have become a new breed (as a result of overarching genetic distinction) is left, in the following table, to the authority of ARBA, the BRC, or other reputable source.

Extinct rabbit breeds

Certain rabbit breeds, though now extinct, contributed strongly to the development of a modern-day breed. Little may be known of the extinct breed and in some cases the only records are extracts in old breed books.

Explanatory footnotes

Citation footnotes

References

External links

American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA)
''(Includes links to national rabbit breed clubs in the US)''
British Rabbit Council (BRC)
''(Includes links to national rabbit breed clubs in the UK)''
Online Rabbit Care—Rabbit Breeds
''(Lists over 150 rabbit varieties)''
RabbitPedia.com—Rabbit Breeds
''(Information about 60+ Pet Rabbit Breeds from A to Z)''
Petadvices.com—Domestic Rabbit Breeds
''(Information about Domestic Rabbit Animal Breeds)''
Complete Guide of Rabbit Breeds
- List of rabbit breeds approved by American Rabbit Breeders Association
RabbitBreeders.us—Rabbit Breeds
''(Includes body-type and fur-type classifications for over 45 ARBA-recognized rabbit breeds)''

''(Lists over 170—and provides information on over 50—"global domestic" rabbit breeds)'' {{Breed

Rabbits Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit sp ...

Rabbits as pets