Desert hare
| Desert hare | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Lepus tibetanus | ||||||||||||
| Waterhouse , 1841 |
The desert hare ( Lepus tibetanus ) is a species of mammal belonging to the genus of the real hare ( Lepus ) within the hare-like (Lagomorpha). It lives in the high mountains of Central Asia and is distributed over parts of Afghanistan , Pakistan , Mongolia and the People's Republic of China .
features
The desert hare is a hare with a head and torso length of 40 to 48 centimeters, a tail length of 5.0 to 7.5 centimeters and a weight of 1625 to 2500 grams. The hind feet are 109 to 135 millimeters long, the ears measure 81 to 110 millimeters. The body is slim with a comparatively small head. The fur on the back is colored sand yellow or darker with a black undertone. In winter, the back fur is thicker and has a darker gray-sand color. The hips are gray and the outside of the front and rear legs and the belly are yellowish to white. There are brown-black stripes on the top of the tail. The ears are wide and show tufted hair at the base, the tip of the ears is black-brown. The eyes are outlined in light.
The skull has comparatively long intermaxillary bones (premaxillaries) and short nasal bones . The supraorbital process , an extension of the frontal bone above the eyes, is well developed and curved upwards. The tympanic membrane is enlarged and the zygomatic arch is wide.
distribution
The desert hare lives in Central Asia. The distribution area includes parts of Afghanistan , northern Pakistan and southern Mongolia and extends from there to the provinces of Gansu , Nei Mongol and Xinjiang of the People's Republic of China . In large parts of its distribution area it lives allopatric with the Tolai hare ( L. tolai ) and a sympatric distribution is only assumed for the Tian Shan mountains .
The species lives mainly in desert and semi-desert areas and the grass steppe at heights of 3,500 to 4,000 meters.
Way of life
The habitat of the desert hare is mainly in semi-desert and steppe areas with little vegetation consisting of grassland or shrubbery. The species avoids mountain meadows, although it occurs at altitudes of more than 3,500 meters.
It is primarily active at twilight, but can also be observed during the day. It generally feeds on herbaceous plants, grasses, seeds, berries, roots and twigs and does not dig its own buildings. The animals give birth to young animals one to three times a year, the size of the litters ranges from three to ten young animals.
Systematics
The desert hare is now assigned to the real hare (genus Lepus ) as an independent species . It was regarded as a separate species as early as around 1930 and was then listed for a long time together with the Tolai hare ( Lepus tolai ) as a subspecies of the field hare ( Lepus europaeus ) and later of the kaphase ( Lepus capensis ).
Within the species, in addition to the nominate form Lepus tibetanus tibetanus, four other subspecies are distinguished: Lepus tibetanus centrasiaticus , L. t. craspedotis , L. t. pamirensis , L. t. stoliczkanus .
Hazard and protection
The species is classified as “least concern” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) due to its large distribution area and high population numbers. No major threats to the species population are known, but no current data is available either.
supporting documents
- ^ Theodor CH Cole: Dictionary of Mammal Names - Dictionary of Mammal Names, 1st edition 2015
- ↑ Stéphanie Schai-Braun & Klaus Hackländer (responsible for the German trivial names: Gustav Peters & Rainer Hutterer): Family Leporidae (Hares and Rabbits). In: Don Ellis Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (Eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 6: Lagomorphs and Rodents 1 Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2016, ISBN 978-84-941892-3-4 , pp. 133-134
- ↑ a b c d e f g Desert Hare. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, 2008; P. 290. ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i Lepus tibetanus in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012.2. Posted by: Andrew T. Smith , AF Boyer (Lagomorph Red List Authority), 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2012.
- ↑ a b Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Lepus tibetanus ( Memento of April 7, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
literature
- Desert Hare. In: Andrew T. Smith , Yan Xie: A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press, 2008; P. 290. ISBN 978-0-691-09984-2 .
Web links
- Lepus tibetanus inthe IUCN 2012 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: Andrew T. Smith , AF Boyer (Lagomorph Red List Authority), 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2012.