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| SCIENTIFIC
CLASSIFICATION |
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| COMMON
NAME: |
Old World rabbit, domestic rabbit, rabbit |
| KINGDOM: |
Animalia |
| PHYLUM: |
Chordata |
| CLASS: |
Mammalia |
| ORDER: |
Lagomorpha |
| FAMILY: |
Leporidae |
| GENUS
SPECIES: |
Oryctolagus
(digging hare) cuniculus (rabbit, or underground
passage) |
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| DESCRIPTION: |
Coat
is generally grayish, with black and brown (and
sometimes red) sprinkled throughout; underside of
the body is pale gray; underside of the tail is
white; smaller ears and shorter, less powerful legs
than their relatives, the hare's. |
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| SIZE: |
38-50
cm (15.2-20 in.) long |
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| WEIGHT: |
1.5-2.5
kg (3.3-5.5 lbs.) |
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| DIET: |
Herbivore,
eating a diverse diet of grasses, leaves, buds,
tree bark, and roots |
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| GESTATION: |
30
days, 5-6 young (kittens) |
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| SEXUAL
MATURITY: |
8
months |
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| LIFE
SPAN: |
Approximately
9 years |
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| RANGE: |
On
every continent except Asia and Antarctica |
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| HABITAT: |
Dry
areas near sea level with soft, sandy soil for easy
burrowing; fields for cover, but also forests; cultivated
land was once well-suited, but this is no longer
the case because plowing destroys rabbit burrows. |
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| POPULATION: |
GLOBAL |
Unknown |
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| STATUS: |
IUCN |
Not
listed |
| CITES |
Not
listed |
| USFWS |
Not
listed |
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| 1. |
The
biggest difference between a rabbit and a hare is
that the young of a hare are born open-eyed and
furred. The rabbit's young are born naked and with
closed eyes. Hare are able to leave the nest soon
after they are born, but rabbits don't open their
eyes for 7-10 days. |
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| 2. |
This
single species is the ancestor of all domestic rabbits
- about 80 varieties! |
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| 3. |
The
domestic rabbit is one of several rabbit species
that are known to re-ingest feces (coprophagy) to
obtain extra nourishment from their food. |
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| 4. |
Newborn
rabbits are called kittens. |
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| 5. |
These
rabbits live in groups called colonies, in large,
complex burrow systems. A typical colony consists
of 6 to 10 adults. Colonies have dominance hierarchies,
which are important for males, because it determines
which one will have first choice of a mate. |
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| 6. |
This
rabbit is generally nocturnal, spending its days
underground and foraging from evening until morning. |
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| 7. |
Though
generally very quiet, rabbits are capable of making
loud screams when frightened or injured. They communicate
with each other through scent marking and touch.
They also thump their hind limbs on the ground to
warn of danger. |
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Wild
rabbits are popular game animals, especially in
Europe. Varieties of rabbits are raised commercially
for meat, skins, and wool, as well as for pet
trade. They are used extensively (about 0.5 million/year)
in medical research and for testing the safety
of chemicals and consumer products.
The
wild, domesticated rabbit has been highly successful
in most places where it has been introduced, and
it is considered an agricultural pest in many
areas (especially where its natural predators
have been eliminated). They eat cultivated crops
and compete with domestic animals for forage.
Millions of dollars are spent annually in countries
such as Australia, New Zealand, Britain, and the
United States in efforts to control, confine or
exterminate them.
A
number of extinctions have been reported, with
many other species in steep decline, though introduced
predators have undoubtedly also played a role.
On
the other hand, rabbits may provide some benefits
to some native species. Their burrowing loosens
soil, which is helpful to certain plant and animal
species, and abandoned burrows provide ready-made
shelters for snakes, turtles, and other species.
In addition, they are prey for a wide variety
of carnivores, including canines, felines, and
birds of prey.
In
the 1950s, myxomatosis, a virus, began wiping
out the rabbit population. When European rabbits
were first exposed to the virus, the effect was
devastating; in some areas the rabbit population
was virtually wiped out. The rabbits that survived
gradually became more resistant, but this immunity
weakens over time in the absence of the virus.
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|
| Macdonald,
David, Ed. 1984. The Encyclopedia of Mammals. Facts
on File Publications, New York, NY. |
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| Parker,
Sybil P., Ed. 1990. Grzimek's Encyclopedia of Mammals.
McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, NY. |
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|
Interagency
Education Research Initiative, the Homeland Foundation
and the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology.
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/oryctolagus/o._cuniculus$narrative.html
|
|
Nowak,
Ronald M., Ed. 1997. "Walker's Mammals of the
World Online:Old World Rabbit, or Domestic Rabbit"
(On-line), Available at http://www/press.jhu.edu/books/walkers_mammals_of_the_world/lagomorpha/
lagomorpha.leporidae.oryctolagus.html . (November
29, 1999) |
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| ThinkQuest
Jr. http://www.thinkquest.org/tq-junior/ |
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Return
to Expedition
Pantanal 2002
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