Donkey bunny

Donkey bunny
	Donkey Hare ( Lepus californicus )
Systematics
Subclass :	Higher mammals (Eutheria)
Superordinate :	Euarchontoglires
Order :	Hare-like (Lagomorpha)
Family :	Hares (Leporidae)
Genre :	Real rabbits ( Lepus )
Type :	Donkey bunny
Scientific name
	Lepus californicus
	Gray , 1837

The donkey hare , also called the Californian donkey hare ( Lepus californicus ) is one of the largest species of real rabbits in the rabbit family (Leporidae). It is common in the western United States (north to Idaho , east to Kansas ) and northern Mexico and lives primarily in arid habitats, in semi-deserts , steppes, and prairies .

features

With a head-trunk length of 49 to 55 centimeters and a body weight of 1.5 to 3.6 kilograms, the donkey hare is one of the larger representatives of the real rabbit. The female is slightly larger than the male, and there is no sexual dimorphism . The tail has a length of 7.6 to 11.2 centimeters. The animals get their name from their strikingly long, donkey-like ears , which reach a length of 10 to 13 centimeters. Their fur is gray-brown to black on the top and grayish to whitish on the underside. They have a typical black stripe on their backs and a black tail. The legs are very long, the rear foot length is 11.7 to 13 centimeters.

distribution and habitat

Distribution areas of the donkey hare (without introductions)

The donkey hare is common over a wide area in the arid regions of the western United States and northern Mexico . The distribution area in the USA includes parts of the states of Texas , New Mexico , Arizona , Nevada , eastern Colorado , Nebraska , Kansas , Oklahoma , western Missouri , Utah with the exception of the northeast, parts of California and Oregon , southeast Washington , the south Idahos and an isolated population in Montana and the far west and southeast of Wyoming . It was also introduced to the states of Massachusetts , Maryland , New Jersey , Virginia and southern Florida . In Mexico it comes in the states of Hidalgo , Querétaro , northern Guanajuato , San Luis Potosi , eastern Tamaulipas , Zacatecas , Aguascalientes , eastern Durango , Chihuahua with the exception of the southwest, the extreme northeast of Jalisco , Coahuila , Nuevo León , northern Sonora and the entire Baja California peninsula .

Way of life

The hare is adapted to dry habitats in semi-deserts , steppes and prairies and occurs at heights of up to 3,750 meters. It is crepuscular and nocturnal and spends the day in shallow earth hollows in the shade of bushes. The animals are loners and protect themselves against predators primarily through their camouflage and flight, with which they can reach speeds of 50 to 60 km / h with hooking. You are also able to jump up to six meters from a standing position.

nutrition

Donkey bunny in Utah

The donkey hare's preferred food consists of grass and green parts of plants, but it also eats branches and bark of woody plants and cacti . The animals eat almost continuously and have a very large need for plants per individual animal. The need for fluids is very low and the animals get almost all of the water they need from food.

Reproduction and development

The mating season differs regionally, ranging from December to September in Arizona and from late January to August in California and Kansas. After a gestation period of 41 to 47 days, the female gives birth to one to six, usually three to four, young animals three to four times a year. As with all real rabbits, these are those who flee the nest . The females take care of the offspring for about three to four days and then leave them.

Donkey hares can live to be five to six years old in captivity, but die much earlier in the wild due to disease, predatory pressure and other reasons.

Systematics

The donkey hare is assigned as an independent species of the genus Real Hare ( Lepus ) and thus the Hare (Leporidae). The first scientific description of the species was in 1837 by John Edward Gray as Lepus californica . As a locality and terra typica he was "St. Anoine ”, later it was assumed that the location was one of the mountainous regions near the former mission of San Antonio near Jolon in the coastal Monterey County in California.

Within the species, six to 17 subspecies are differentiated depending on the processing with the nominate form . According to Wilson & Reeder 2005, six subspecies are accepted:

Lepus californicus californicus : nominate form.
Lepus californicus deserticola
Lepus californicus insularis
Lepus californicus magdalenae
Lepus californicus melanotis
Lepus californicus texianus

In 1996, Troy L. Best distinguished 17 subspecies in his species portrait of the Mammalian Species series .

Threat and protection

The species is assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as "Least Concern" due to its relatively large distribution area and population size. A decline in the population and a greater threat to the species are not known.

supporting documents

↑ ^a ^b "Black-tailed jackrabbit." In: EW Jameson, Hans J. Peeters: Mammals of California. California Natural History Guides 66, University of California Press, Berkeley 2004. ISBN 978-0-52023-582-3 .
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Troy L. Best : Lepus californicus . In: Mammalian Species . tape 530 , 1996, pp. 1-10 .
^ Liz Ballenger: Lepus californicus in the Animal Diversity Web of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Retrieved January 3, 2012.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Lepus californicus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: Mexican Association for Conservation and Study of Lagomorphs (AMCELA), FJ Romero Malpica, H. Rangel Cordero, 2008. Accessed January 3, 2012 found.
↑ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Lepus californicus in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).

literature

Troy L. Best : Lepus californicus . In: Mammalian Species . tape 530 , 1996, pp. 1-10 . doi : 10.2307 / 3504151
"Black-tailed jackrabbit." In: EW Jameson, Hans J. Peeters: Mammals of California. California Natural History Guides 66, University of California Press, Berkeley 2004. ISBN 978-0-52023-582-3

Web links

Commons : Donkey Bunny - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Lepus californicus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: Mexican Association for Conservation and Study of Lagomorphs (AMCELA), FJ Romero Malpica, H. Rangel Cordero, 2008. Accessed January 3, 2012 found.
Liz Ballenger: Lepus californicus on the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology's Animal Diversity Web. Retrieved January 3, 2012.

[Jameson_&_Peeters_2004-1] "Black-tailed jackrabbit." In: EW Jameson, Hans J. Peeters: Mammals of California. California Natural History Guides 66, University of California Press, Berkeley 2004. ISBN 978-0-52023-582-3 .

[Best-2] ↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Troy L. Best : Lepus californicus . In: Mammalian Species . tape 530 , 1996, pp. 1-10 .

[Ballenger-3] Liz Ballenger: Lepus californicus in the Animal Diversity Web of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Retrieved January 3, 2012.

[IUCN-4] Lepus californicus in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2011. Posted by: Mexican Association for Conservation and Study of Lagomorphs (AMCELA), FJ Romero Malpica, H. Rangel Cordero, 2008. Accessed January 3, 2012 found.

[Wilson_&_Reeder_2005-5] Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Lepus californicus in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).