The Rabbit Zone

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Rabbits are a part of our world, just a few of the dozens of hundreds of thousands(?) of vertebrates that inhabit this planet. If rabbits intrigue you, read on! I discovered many of these facts through my extensive rabbit research, much of which went towards improving the coverage of rabbits on Wikipedia. You can read more of my work by following the links in the notice in the footer of this page.

1. The ears of a rabbit are used to regulate their body temperature. Blood vessels are distributed along the ears, and they can expand or contract to give off or conserve heat, respectively.
2. Lop-eared rabbit breeds have a disadvantage compared to other rabbits as their ears cannot be used as effectively to hear or regulate temperature.
3. The term "rabbit" derives from the Middle English rabet ("young of the coney"), a borrowing from the Walloon robète, which was a diminutive of the French or Middle Dutch robbe. The origin of this last term is unknown.
4. Coney, another word for the rabbit, is derived from cuniculus, a Latin term referring to rabbits which has been in use from at least the first century BCE in Hispania. The word cuniculus may originate from a diminutive form of the word for "dog" in the Celtic languages.
5. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is the only species of rabbit that has been domesticated. Every breed of rabbit, from the Angora to the New Zealand, is derived from the European rabbit!
6. The group of animals known as "rabbits" includes about thirty-two species that are classified within the taxonomic family Leporidae. It excludes the hares, which are all part of the genus Lepus and are also part of the leporid family.
7. Hares have never been domesticated, but a breed of rabbit known as the "Belgian hare" was bred to look more hare-like.
8. Rabbits and hares are part of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha. The only other lagomorphs are pikas, which are found in Europe, Asia, and North America. In Chinese, pikas are known as shǔtù (鼠兔), or "mouse-rabbits", which describes their appearance as the midpoint between mice and rabbits.
9. Rabbits and rodents share a common ancestor. Early naturalists considered rabbits to be a type of rodent, and the term "lagomorph" didn't exist to describe a group separate from rodents until 1912.
10. All rabbits have 28 teeth, except for the endangered Amami rabbit, which has two fewer molars. This gives it the generic (genus) name Pentalagus, meaning "five+hare".

    

11. The mythical jackalope is thought to have originated with sightings of rabbits infected with Shope papilloma virus, which causes cancerous growths to appear and extend from the rabbit in a manner that may appear like horns. Taxidermied rabbits that had been altered to have horns attached were popular in the 1930s, but legends of horned rabbits are known from the 13th century.
12. The disease myxomatosis, caused by the myxoma virus, was used to control exploding populations of European rabbit following their introduction to non-native habitats in Australia, France, and Chile. This disease originated in the wild rabbits of North and South America, specifically the brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani) and common tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis), where it has only mild symptoms.
13. The common tapeti as it was first known to naturalists was thought to inhabit a vast region spanning Argentina to Mexico. Researchers have since found several species within its range that differ from the original description in appearance, behavior, and genetics. This has left the "true" tapeti, the species Linnaeus described in 1758, restricted to a small part of the rainforests of northeastern Brazil.
14. Rabbits have been domesticated as far back as the 1st century BC in Rome, where they were raised in leporaria for food, but the keeping of rabbits as pets started only from the Victorian era onwards in the 19th century. Beatrix Potter and Marinell Harriman are credited with the popularization of the "house rabbit".
15. Fur from angora rabbits is obtained through shearing, combing, or plucking when the fur is molted. The fur is then spun into yarn. Clothing made from angora yarn usually incorporates other fibers, since angora fibers are weak on their own.
16. The genome of the European rabbit has been fully sequenced. Their fur color is largely determined by seven specific gene groups.
17. The genus of the European rabbit, Oryctolagus, includes two extinct species that lived in prehistoric France and Iberia. The genus name refers to the European rabbit's burrowing behavior, with the first part coming from the Ancient Greek oryktos (ὀρυκτός), meaning "dug up".



18. Pygmy rabbits, the smallest known rabbits, are also the only burrowing rabbits native to North America. Adult pygmy rabbits can weigh less than a pound and have a head and body length of about 10 inches on average.
19. Marsh and swamp rabbits are often seen swimming, but the marsh rabbit is considered the more aquatic of the two. The swamp rabbit sometimes lives in forests, while the marsh rabbit never does, preferring cattail marshes and mangrove swamps. In some eastern United States cookeries, the term "marsh rabbit" is a euphemism for muskrat meat.
20. Among the more endangered rabbit species is the volcano rabbit, which is found only among the alpine habitats found on the slopes of four volcanoes in Mexico. It is generally regarded as the second smallest rabbit species. Increased volcanic activity at Popocatepetl has forced tourists and shepherders away from the volcano rabbit's habitat, which has allowed their populations to recover. A documentary was filmed about the volcano rabbits in 1992!
21. Four species of red rock hares live in southern Africa. They are named for their reddish-brown fur and their preferential habitat among the rocky mountainsides where grass and scrub are readily available. They are not strictly hares, despite the name, as they are classified in the genus Pronolagus.
22. Mountain cottontails are fairly common around the Hanford Site, a defunct nuclear production facility in the state of Washington.
23. The longest-lived rabbit ever recorded was a pet European rabbit from Tasmania that lived to 18 years. Wild European rabbits stop being able to reproduce at 6 years of age, and wild eastern cottontails live from one to five years.
24. A rabbit was launched into space by the Soviet Union on July 2, 1959, alongside two dogs. The three animals landed back on Earth safely.