Habitat and Range: Evolution

Habitat and range
Outdoor entrance to a rabbit burrow
Rabbit habitats include meadows, woods, forests, grasslands, deserts and wetlands.[1] Rabbits live in
groups, and the best known species, the European rabbit, lives in underground burrows, or rabbit
holes. A group of burrows is called a warren.[1]
More than half the world's rabbit population resides in North America.[1] 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 hares 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 is without rabbits.
The European rabbit has been introduced to many places around the world.[2]
Terminology
Male rabbits are called bucks; females are called does. An older term for an adult rabbit is coney,
while rabbit once referred only to the young animals.[3] Another term for a young rabbit is bunny,
though this term is often applied informally (especially 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
young hare is called a leveret; this term is sometimes informally applied to a young rabbit as well.
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).[4] A group of baby rabbits produced from a single mating
is referred to as a litter,[5] and a group of domestic rabbits living together is sometimes called
a herd.[6]
Biology
A skin-skeletal preparation showing its incisors
Evolution
Because the rabbit's epiglottis 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 rodents, with which they are often confused.[7] Carl
Linnaeus originally grouped rabbits and rodents under the class Glires; later, they were separated as
the scientific consensus is that many of their similarities were a result of convergent evolution.
However, recent DNA analysis and the discovery of a common ancestor has supported the view that
they do share a common lineage, and thus rabbits and rodents are now often referred to together as
members of the superorder Glires.[8]
Morphology
Video of a European rabbit, showing ears twitching and a jump
Set of wax models showing development of the rabbit heart
The rabbit's long ears, which can be more than 10 cm (4 in) long, are probably an adaptation for
detecting predators. They have large, powerful hind legs. The two front paws have 5 toes, the extra
called the dewclaw. The hind feet have 4 toes.[9] They are plantigrade animals while at rest; however,
they move around on their toes while running, assuming a more digitigrade form. Unlike some
other paw structures of quadruped mammals, especially those of domesticated animals, rabbit paws
lack pads.[citation needed] Their nails are strong and are used for digging; along with their teeth, they are
also used for defense.[citation needed]
Wild rabbits do not differ[clarification needed (Compared to each other or compared to domesticated breeds?)] much in their body proportions
or stance, with full, egg-shaped bodies. Their size can range anywhere from 20 cm (8 in) in length
and 0.4 kg in weight to 50 cm (20 in) and more than 2 kg. The fur is most commonly long and soft,
with colors such as shades of brown, gray, and buff. The tail is a little plume of brownish fur (white
on top for cottontails).[2] Rabbits can see nearly 360 degrees, with a small blind spot at the bridge of
the nose.[10]
Ecology
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.[11] 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 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.[12]
A litter of rabbit kits (baby rabbits)
A nest containing baby rabbits
Rabbits are 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.[13] 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.[14] They 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.[15] The longest-lived rabbit on record, a
domesticated European rabbit living in Tasmania, died at age 18.[16] The lifespan of wild rabbits is
much shorter; the average longevity of an eastern cottontail, for instance, is less than one year.[17]
Sleep
Further information: Sleep (non-human)
Rabbits appear to be crepuscular, most active at dawn and dusk, although their natural behaviour is
to be nocturnally active [18] . The average sleep time of a rabbit in captivity is said to be 8.4
hours.[19] As with other prey animals, rabbits often sleep with their eyes open so sudden movements
will wake the rabbit and alert it to dangers.[20]

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Habitat and range

Outdoor entrance to a rabbit burrow

A skin-skeletal preparation showing its incisors

Video of a European rabbit, showing ears twitching and a jump

Set of wax models showing development of the rabbit heart

A nest containing baby rabbits

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