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Hewitt's red rock hare (''Pronolagus saundersiae'') is a
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
rabbit Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also includes the hares), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes pikas). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated ...
in the family
Leporidae Leporidae () is the family of rabbits and hares, containing over 70 species of extant mammals in all. The family name comes from "Lepus", hare in Latin. Together with the pikas, the Leporidae constitute the mammalian order Lagomorpha. Leporidae ...
found in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...
, and
Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...
. It is a medium-sized, densely-furred
rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish- red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a d ...
and brown rabbit that behaves similarly to other red rock hares, with a preference for higher elevated rocky
habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...
s. Previously classified as a subspecies of Smith's red rock hare (''Pronolagus rupestris''), it is now regarded as its own species. Like other red rock hares, ''P. saundersiae'' is nocturnal, and is presumed to feed on grasses, herbs, and shrubs. Its breeding patterns are also presumed to be similar to those of other red rock hares, with females producing three to four litters of
altricial Precocial species in birds and mammals are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. They are normally nidifugous, meaning that they leave the nest shortly after birth or hatching. Altricial ...
young each warm season. The species is predated upon by
Verreaux's eagle Verreaux's eagle (''Aquila verreauxii'') is a large, mostly African, bird of prey. It is also called the black eagle, especially in southern Africa, not to be confused with the black eagle (''Ictinaetus malayensis'') of south and southeast Asia. ...
, Cape eagle-owls, and
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
s. It is considered a
least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
(IUCN) and is said to be "abundant" throughout its range, despite not being protected by any specific conservation measures. As a result of
habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...
caused by humans, the global population is expected to decrease.


Taxonomy

The Hewitt's red rock hare was named by John Hewitt (1880–1961), the director of the Albany Museum, South Africa. Hewitt originally described this taxon as a subspecies of '' Pronolagus crassicaudatus'' in his 1927 description. Its type locality was
Grahamstown Makhanda, formerly known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 75,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Gqeberha and southwest of East London. It is the largest town in the Makana Local Mun ...
. He described this taxon based on skulls from Albany district, which were collected by Enid Saunders and Frank Bowker. The species was named after Saunders. It is regarded as its own species due to differences in
morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
(specifically having a snout bone shorter than its frontal bone, compared to Smith's red rock hare) and genetic differences in
cytochrome b Cytochrome b is a protein found in the membranes of aerobic cells. In eukaryotic mitochondria (inner membrane) and in aerobic prokaryotes, cytochrome b is a component of respiratory chain complex III () — also known as the bc1 complex or ubiq ...
and 12S rRNA from other members of '' Pronolagus''. It has been previously classified as a subspecies of '' Pronolagus rupestris'' by various zoologists, including Ellerman, Morrison-Scott and Hayman, as well as
Hoffmann Hoffmann is a German language, German surname. People A *Adolph Hoffmann (1858–1930), German politician *Albert Hoffmann (horticulturist), Albert Hoffmann (1846–1924), German horticulturist *Alexander Hoffmann (politician), Alexander Hoffma ...
and Smith for the third edition of ''
Mammal Species of the World ''Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference'' is a standard reference work in mammalogy giving descriptions and Bibliographic database, bibliographic data for the known species of mammals. It is now in its third edition, ...
''. The two species are very closely related, diverging at an estimated date of .


Fossil record

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...
s of ''P. saundersiae'' are extremely sparse. Presence of its remains in archaeological studies are mentioned in lists of taxa found at a given site, but are never described or illustrated. It has specifically appeared in localities dating back to the
Late Pleistocene The Late Pleistocene is an unofficial Age (geology), age in the international geologic timescale in chronostratigraphy, also known as the Upper Pleistocene from a Stratigraphy, stratigraphic perspective. It is intended to be the fourth division ...
, but further study is warranted to clarify its first appearance.


Characteristics

''P. saundersiae'' is a densely-furred, medium-sized () red rock hare that is largely brown with light
rufous Rufous () is a color that may be described as reddish-brown or brownish- red, as of rust or oxidised iron. The first recorded use of ''rufous'' as a color name in English was in 1782. However, the color is also recorded earlier in 1527 as a d ...
underparts and a sandy- to red-colored tail. Its sides are slightly lighter than its back in coloration, and its head is grayish-brown with grayish-white cheeks. The color of its fur varies by habitat. Its adult head-body length measures between , and tail length between . The ear length measures , and the hind foot .


Distribution and habitat

''P. saundersiae'' is found in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...
, and
Lesotho Lesotho, formally the Kingdom of Lesotho and formerly known as Basutoland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Entirely surrounded by South Africa, it is the largest of only three sovereign enclave and exclave, enclaves in the world, t ...
. It specifically occurs in the South African provinces of
Western Cape The Western Cape ( ; , ) is a provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the List of South African provinces by area, fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , an ...
,
Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...
, Free State, and
KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
, as well as the western half of Eswatini and the entirety of Lesotho. Its range overlaps with that of Jameson's red rock hare in some regions, where the two species' habitats differ in elevation and rainfall, and the Natal red rock hare in others, where the two species are
sympatric In biology, two closely related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter each other. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct spe ...
. Its habitat is similar to that of other red rock hares. It occupies rocky
escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...
s, hillsides and kopjes, residing in particular on the tops of rocky outcroppings and in higher elevations in general. The tendency of ''P. saundersiae'' towards higher elevations in its habitat contributes towards its separation from other red rock hares in areas of overlapping distribution. Other regions ''P. saundersiae'' are found include elevated grassland and shrubland.


Behavior and ecology

''P. saundersiae'' is presumed to behave similarly to Smith's red rock hare—a
nocturnal Nocturnality is a ethology, behavior in some non-human animals characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnality, diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatur ...
forager that shelters under boulders and in crevices. It is likely a
folivore In zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less energy than other types of foods, and often toxic compounds.Jones, S., Martin, R., & Pilbeam, D. (1 ...
, preferring to eat grasses, herbs and shrubs. Known predators of ''P. saundersiae'' and red rock hares in general are
Verreaux's eagle Verreaux's eagle (''Aquila verreauxii'') is a large, mostly African, bird of prey. It is also called the black eagle, especially in southern Africa, not to be confused with the black eagle (''Ictinaetus malayensis'') of south and southeast Asia. ...
, Cape eagle-owls, and
leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...
s. Breeding takes place during the warm season, in which a female produces three to four litters, each yielding one to two young born
altricial Precocial species in birds and mammals are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. They are normally nidifugous, meaning that they leave the nest shortly after birth or hatching. Altricial ...
.


Threats and interactions with humans

The population of ''P. saundersiae'' was estimated to be over 10,000 mature individuals in 2004, and the species has been said to be "abundant" throughout its range. However, there are several threats to the species, of which many are
anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human impact on the enviro ...
. The main anthropogenic impact to the species is
habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...
caused by the ongoing expansion of commercial
plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
s, which has been ongoing for at least 100 years as of 2016. The expansion is expected to cause a decrease of less than 20% of the species' available habitat over the period of 2016 to 2036, which will cause a decline in the global population.


Conservation

''P. saundersiae'' is listed as a species of
least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...
by the
International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the stat ...
(IUCN). No specific conservation measures have been taken, though the species does occur in at least one
protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...
.


References


Works cited

*


Further reading

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2924081 Pronolagus Mammals described in 1927 Taxa named by John Hewitt (herpetologist)