Mexican cottontail rabbit
| Mexican cottontail rabbit | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Sylvilagus cunicularius | ||||||||||||
| ( Waterhouse , 1848) |
The Mexican cottontail rabbit ( Sylvilagus cunicularius ) is a mammalian species in the genus of cottontail rabbit in the leporidae . It is endemic to Mexico and lives in forest and meadow areas.
features
The Mexican cottontail rabbit is a relatively large species of the genus with a body weight of 1,800 to 2,300 grams and a height of 48.5 to 51.5 centimeters. The back color and the tail are brown-gray to reddish brown, the belly side is colored white. The fur is short and rough.
distribution
The Mexican cottontail rabbit is endemic to Mexico . The distribution area extends from central Sinaloa to the south along the Pacific coast to Oaxaca and western Veracruz.
The altitude distribution ranges from sea level to heights of 4,300 meters.
Way of life
The Mexican cottontail rabbit lives in temperate to tropical, deciduous forests. In central Mexico it is often found in pine and pine-oak forests with a dense undergrowth of grasses of the genera Festuca , Agrostis and Mühlenbergia , which are collectively known as "zacatones". In the volcanic areas on Popocatépetl , Iztaccíhuatl , Pelado and Nevado de Toluca it lives in less densely vegetated habitats and in western Mexico the species is found in dry forest and grass areas. In the mountain regions south of Mexico City , the species occurs together ( sympatric ) with the Florida cottontail ( S. floridanus ) and the volcanic rabbit ( Romerolagus diazi ), in other areas with the Audubon cottontail rabbit ( S. audubonii ), the white-flanked hare ( Lepus callotis ) and the donkey hare ( Lepus californicus ).
Mating of this kind takes place over the whole year, there is no fixed mating time. The peak of the mating season is between March and October. The female gives birth to an average of six young animals per litter, the gestation period is about 30 days.
Systematics
The Mexican cottontail rabbit is assigned to the cottontail rabbit (genus Sylvilagus ) as an independent species . It was first scientifically described as Lepus cunicularius by George Robert Waterhouse in 1848. There are three subspecies:
- Sylvilagus cunicularius cunicularius in the central distribution area in the states of Michoacán , Guerrero and Oaxaca
- S. c. insolitus in the northern distribution area from Sinaloa along the Pacific coast to Jalisco
- S. c. pacificus in the southern distribution area from southern Jalisco along the Pacific coast to Oaxaca.
According to morphological and genetic studies, the Tres Marias cottontail rabbit ( Sylvilagus graysoni ) is the closest relative of the species.
Hazard and protection
The Mexican cottontail rabbit is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as not endangered (least concern) due to the size of the population and the large distribution area. A decline in the populations is not known.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c Joseph A. Chapman, John EC Flux (Ed.): Rabbits, Hares and Pikas. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. (PDF; 11.3 MB) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Gland 1990; P. 101. ISBN 2-8317-0019-1 .
- ↑ a b c Fernando A. Cervantes, Consuelo Lorenzo, Julieta Vargas, Thorwald Holmes: Sylvilagus cunicularius . In: Mammalian Species . tape 412 , 1992, pp. 1–4 ( full text (PDF; 504 kB)). Full text ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c d e Sylvilagus cunicularius 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. Retrieved on June 10, 2012 .
literature
- Joseph A. Chapman, John EC Flux (Eds.): Rabbits, Hares and Pikas. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. (PDF; 11.3 MB) International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), Gland 1990; P. 101. ISBN 2-8317-0019-1 .
- Fernando A. Cervantes, Consuelo Lorenzo, Julieta Vargas, Thorwald Holmes: Sylvilagus cunicularius . In: Mammalian Species . tape 412 , 1992, pp. 1–4 ( full text (PDF; 504 kB)).
Web links
- Sylvilagus cunicularius 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 June 10, 2012th