What to Do to Correct a Baby Rabbit's Splay Back Legs

Mammals of the family Leporidae

Rabbit Temporal range: Late Eocene–Holocene, 53–0 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Scientific nomenclature
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Guild:	Lagomorpha
Family unit:	Leporidae (in office)
Genera
Pentalagus Bunolagus Nesolagus Romerolagus Brachylagus Sylvilagus Oryctolagus Poelagus

Rabbits, as well known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which besides contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). Oryctolagus cuniculus includes the European rabbit species and its descendants, the globe's 305 breeds^[1] of domestic rabbit. Sylvilagus includes 13 wild rabbit species, among them the seven types of cottontail. The European rabbit, which has been introduced on every continent except Antarctica, is familiar throughout the world every bit a wild prey brute and as a domesticated form of livestock and pet. With its widespread effect on ecologies and cultures, the rabbit is, in many areas of the world, a part of daily life—every bit food, clothing, a companion, and a source of creative inspiration.

Although once considered rodents, lagomorphs like rabbits have been discovered to have diverged separately and earlier than their rodent cousins and have a number of traits rodents lack, similar two extra incisors.

Terminology and etymology

Male rabbits are called bucks; females are called does. An older term for an adult rabbit used until the 18th century is coney (derived ultimately from the Latin cuniculus ), while rabbit once referred only to the young animals.^[2] Another term for a young rabbit is bunny, though this term is often practical informally (particularly by children) to rabbits generally, particularly domestic ones. More recently, the term kit or kitten has been used to refer to a young rabbit.

A group of rabbits is known as a colony or nest (or, occasionally, a warren, though this more than normally refers to where the rabbits live).^[3] A group of baby rabbits produced from a single mating is referred to equally a litter ^[4] and a group of domestic rabbits living together is sometimes chosen a herd.^[5]

The give-and-take rabbit itself derives from the Middle English rabet , a borrowing from the Walloon robète , which was a diminutive of the French or Heart Dutch robbe .^[six]

Taxonomy

Rabbits and hares were formerly classified in the gild Rodentia (rodent) until 1912, when they were moved into a new order, Lagomorpha (which too includes pikas). Below are some of the genera and species of the rabbit.

• 

  Brachylagus idahoensis

  Pygmy rabbit

• 

  Nesolagus netscheri

  Sumatran Striped Rabbit

  (Model)

• 

  Oryctolagus cuniculus

  European rabbit

  (Feral Tasmanian specimen)

• 

  Pentalagus furnessi

  Amami rabbit

  (Taxidermy specimen)

• 

  Romerolagus diazi

  Volcano rabbit

  (Taxidermy specimen)

• 

  Sylvilagus aquaticus

  Swamp rabbit

  (Juvenile)

• 

  Sylvilagus audubonii

  Desert cottontail

• 

  Sylvilagus bachmani

  Brush rabbit

• 

  Sylvilagus brasiliensis

  Tapeti

  (Taxidermy specimen)

• 

  Sylvilagus palustris hefneri

  Lower Keys marsh rabbit

• Order Lagomorpha
  • Family unit Leporidae (in function)
• Genus Brachylagus
  • Pygmy rabbit, Brachylagus idahoensis
• Genus Bunolagus
  • Bushman rabbit, Bunolagus monticularis
• Genus Lepus ^[a]
• Genus Nesolagus
  • Sumatran striped rabbit, Nesolagus netscheri
  • Annamite striped rabbit, Nesolagus timminsi
• Genus Oryctolagus
  • European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus
• Genus Pentalagus
  • Amami rabbit/Ryūkyū rabbit, Pentalagus furnessi
• Genus Poelagus
  • Key African Rabbit, Poelagus marjorita
• Genus Romerolagus
  • Volcano rabbit, Romerolagus diazi
• Genus Sylvilagus
  • Swamp rabbit, Sylvilagus aquaticus
  • Desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii
  • Brush rabbit, Sylvilagus bachmani
  • Forest rabbit, Sylvilagus brasiliensis
  • Mexican cottontail, Sylvilagus cunicularis
  • Dice's cottontail, Sylvilagus dicei
  • Eastern cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus
  • Tres Marias rabbit, Sylvilagus graysoni
  • Omilteme cottontail, Sylvilagus insonus
  • San Jose brush rabbit, Sylvilagus mansuetus
  • Mountain cottontail, Sylvilagus nuttallii
  • Marsh rabbit, Sylvilagus palustris
  • New England cottontail, Sylvilagus transitionalis

Hare

Johann Daniel Meyer (1748)

Rabbit

Johann Daniel Meyer (1748)

Differences from hares

Master article: Hare

The term "rabbit" is typically used for all Leporidae species excluding the genus Lepus. Members of that genus are instead known as hares or jackrabbits.

Lepus species are typically precocial, born relatively mature and mobile with pilus and expert vision, while other rabbit species are altricial, built-in hairless and blind, and requiring closer intendance. Hares alive a relatively alone life in a unproblematic nest above the basis, while most other rabbits live in social groups in burrows or warrens. Hares are generally larger than other rabbits, with ears that are more than elongated, and with hind legs that are larger and longer. Descendants of the European rabbit are usually bred as livestock and kept as pets, whereas no hares have been domesticated - the brood called the Belgian hare is a domestic rabbit which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare.

Domestication

Rabbits have long been domesticated. Commencement in the Eye Ages, the European rabbit has been widely kept every bit livestock, starting in ancient Rome. Selective breeding has generated a wide variety of rabbit breeds, of which many (since the early 19th century) are likewise kept every bit pets. Some strains of rabbit have been bred specifically as research subjects.

Equally livestock, rabbits are bred for their meat and fur. The primeval breeds were important sources of meat, and and so became larger than wild rabbits, but domestic rabbits in modernistic times range in size from dwarf to giant. Rabbit fur, prized for its softness, can be plant in a broad range of coat colors and patterns, besides as lengths. The Angora rabbit brood, for example, was developed for its long, silky fur, which is frequently hand-spun into yarn. Other domestic rabbit breeds have been developed primarily for the commercial fur trade, including the Male monarch, which has a short plush glaze.

Biological science

Development

Evolution of the rabbit heart

(wax models)

Considering the rabbit'south 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 manner they can exist distinguished from rodents, with which they are often confused.^[7] Carl Linnaeus originally grouped rabbits and rodents under the course Glires; afterwards, they were separated every bit the scientific consensus is that many of their similarities were a result of convergent evolution. Nevertheless, recent DNA assay and the discovery of a common antecedent has supported the view that they practice share a common lineage, and thus rabbits and rodents are now often referred to together as members of the superorder Glires.^[viii]

Morphology

Since speed and agility are a rabbit'due south main defenses against predators (including the swift fox), rabbits have big hind leg bones and well adult musculature. Though plantigrade at rest, rabbits are on their toes while running, assuming a more digitigrade posture. Rabbits use their strong claws for earthworks and (forth with their teeth) for defense.^[9] Each front human foot has four toes plus a dewclaw. Each hind human foot has four toes (but no dewclaw).^[10]

Melanistic coloring

Oryctologus cuniculusEuropean rabbit (wild)

Almost wild rabbits (specially compared to hares) accept relatively full, egg-shaped bodies. The soft coat of the wild rabbit is agouti in coloration (or, rarely, melanistic), which aids in camouflage. The tail of the rabbit (with the exception of the cottontail species) is night on summit and white below. Cottontails have white on the top of their tails.^[eleven]

As a result of the position of the eyes in its skull, the rabbit has a field of vision that encompasses nigh 360 degrees, with just a small blind spot at the bridge of the nose.^[12]

Hind limb elements

This image comes from a specimen in the Pacific Lutheran Academy natural history drove. It displays all of the skeletal articulations of rabbit's hind limbs.

The anatomy of rabbits' hind limbs are structurally similar to that of other land mammals and contribute to their specialized form of locomotion. The bones of the hind limbs consist of long bones (the femur, tibia, fibula, and phalanges) as well as short bones (the tarsals). These bones are created through endochondral ossification during development. Like most country mammals, the round head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum of the ox coxae. The femur articulates with the tibia, but not the fibula, which is fused to the tibia. The tibia and fibula clear with the tarsals of the foot, commonly called the foot. The hind limbs of the rabbit are longer than the forepart limbs. This allows them to produce their hopping course of locomotion. Longer hind limbs are more capable of producing faster speeds. Hares, which have longer legs than cottontail rabbits, are able to movement considerably faster.^[13] Rabbits stay just on their toes when moving; this is chosen Digitigrade locomotion. The hind feet accept 4 long toes that allow for this and are webbed to prevent them from spreading when hopping.^[14] Rabbits do non have paw pads on their feet like most other animals that apply digitigrade locomotion. Instead, they have coarse compressed hair that offers protection.^[15]

Musculature

The rabbits hind limb (lateral view) includes muscles involved in the quadriceps and hamstrings.

Rabbits have muscled hind legs that allow for maximum strength, maneuverability, and dispatch that is divided into three main parts; foot, thigh, and leg. The hind limbs of a rabbit are an exaggerated feature. They are much longer than the forelimbs, providing more strength. Rabbits run on their toes to proceeds the optimal step during locomotion. The forcefulness put out by the hind limbs is contributed to both the structural beefcake of the fusion tibia and fibula, and muscular features.^[16] Bone formation and removal, from a cellular standpoint, is direct correlated to hind limb muscles. Action pressure from muscles creates force that is then distributed through the skeletal structures. Rabbits that generate less force, putting less stress on bones are more prone to osteoporosis due to bone rarefaction.^[17] In rabbits, the more than fibers in a musculus, the more than resistant to fatigue. For example, hares have a greater resistance to fatigue than cottontails. The muscles of rabbit's hind limbs tin be classified into 4 main categories: hamstrings, quadriceps, dorsiflexors, or plantar flexors. The quadriceps muscles are in charge of forcefulness production when jumping. Complementing these muscles are the hamstrings, which assist in brusk bursts of action. These muscles play off of ane another in the same way equally the plantar flexors and dorsiflexors, contributing to the generation and actions associated with force.^[18]

Ears

A Holland Lop resting with one ear up and 1 ear down. Some rabbits tin can adjust their ears to hear afar sounds.

Inside the order lagomorphs, the ears are utilized to detect and avoid predators. In the family Leporidae, the ears are typically longer than they are wide. For instance, in blackness tailed jack rabbits, their long ears comprehend a greater surface surface area relative to their body size that allow them to detect predators from far away. Contrasted to cotton tailed rabbits, their ears are smaller and shorter, requiring predators to exist closer to notice them before they tin can abscond. Evolution has favored rabbits having shorter ears and so the larger surface surface area does not cause them to lose heat in more temperate regions. The reverse can be seen in rabbits that live in hotter climates, mainly because they possess longer ears that have a larger surface expanse that help with dispersion of estrus besides as the theory that sound does non travel well in more arid air, opposed to libation air. Therefore, longer ears are meant to assist the organism in detecting predators sooner rather than later in warmer temperatures.^{[19] [ page needed ]} The rabbit is characterized by its shorter ears while hares are characterized by their longer ears.^{[20] [ page needed ]} Rabbits' ears are an important structure to help thermoregulation and detect predators due to how the outer, middle, and inner ear muscles coordinate with one some other. The ear muscles also aid in maintaining residue and movement when fleeing predators.^[21]

Outer ear

The auricle, besides known equally the pinna, is a rabbit's outer ear.^[22] The rabbit's pinnae correspond a fair part of the torso surface surface area. Information technology is theorized that the ears aid in dispersion of heat at temperatures higher up thirty °C with rabbits in warmer climates having longer pinnae due to this. Another theory is that the ears function equally shock absorbers that could aid and stabilize rabbit's vision when fleeing predators, but this has typically merely been seen in hares.^{[23] [ page needed ]} The remainder of the outer ear has bent canals that lead to the eardrum or tympanic membrane.^[24]

Middle ear

The middle ear is filled with 3 bones called ossicles and is separated by the outer eardrum in the dorsum of the rabbit's skull. The three ossicles are called hammer, anvil, and stirrup and human action to decrease audio before it hits the inner ear. In full general, the ossicles act as a barrier to the inner ear for sound energy.^[24]

Inner ear

Inner ear fluid chosen endolymph receives the audio energy. After receiving the energy, later within the inner ear in that location are two parts: the cochlea that utilizes sound waves from the ossicles and the vestibular apparatus that manages the rabbit's position in regards to movement. Within the cochlea there is a basilar membrane that contains sensory hair structures utilized to send nerve signals to the encephalon and then it can recognize different sound frequencies. Within the vestibular apparatus the rabbit possesses 3 semicircular canals to help detect angular movement.^[24]

Thermoregulation

Thermoregulation is the process that an organism utilizes to maintain an optimal torso temperature independent of external conditions.^[25] This process is carried out by the pinnae, which takes upwardly most of the rabbit's body surface and contain a vascular network and arteriovenous shunts.^[26] In a rabbit, the optimal trunk temperature is around 38.v–xl℃.^[27] If their body temperature exceeds or does not meet this optimal temperature, the rabbit must return to homeostasis. Homeostasis of body temperature is maintained by the use of their large, highly vascularized ears that are able to change the amount of blood period that passes through the ears.

Rabbits use their large vascularized ears, which assistance in thermoregulation, to continue their trunk temperature at an optimal level.

Constriction and dilation of blood vessels in the ears are used to control the cadre body temperature of a rabbit. If the core temperature exceeds its optimal temperature profoundly, blood period is constricted to limit the corporeality of blood going through the vessels. With this constriction, in that location is only a limited amount of blood that is passing through the ears where ambient heat would be able to heat the blood that is flowing through the ears and therefore, increasing the torso temperature. Constriction is also used when the ambient temperature is much lower than that of the rabbit's core body temperature. When the ears are constricted it again limits blood menstruation through the ears to conserve the optimal body temperature of the rabbit. If the ambient temperature is either 15 degrees above or below the optimal body temperature, the blood vessels will dilate. With the claret vessels beingness enlarged, the blood is able to laissez passer through the big surface area, causing it to either heat or absurd downwardly.

During hot summers, the rabbit has the capability to stretch its pinnae, which allows for greater surface area and increment heat dissipation. In cold winters, the rabbit does the opposite and folds its ears in order to decrease its surface area to the ambience air, which would decrease their body temperature.

Ventral view of dissected rabbit lungs with key structures labeled.

The jackrabbit has the largest ears within the Oryctolagus cuniculus group. Their ears contribute to 17% of their total body surface area. Their big pinna were evolved to maintain homeostasis while in the farthermost temperatures of the desert.

Respiratory arrangement

The rabbit's nasal cavity lies dorsal to the oral fissure, and the two compartments are separated by the hard and soft palate.^[28] The nasal cavity itself is separated into a left and right side past a cartilage barrier, and it is covered in fine hairs that trap dust before it can enter the respiratory tract.^{[28] [29] [ folio needed ]} Every bit the rabbit breathes, air flows in through the nostrils forth the alar folds. From there, the air moves into the nasal cavity, as well known as the nasopharynx, downwardly through the trachea, through the larynx, and into the lungs.^{[29] [ page needed ] [xxx]} The larynx functions as the rabbit'due south voice box, which enables it to produce a wide variety of sounds.^{[29] [ page needed ]} The trachea is a long tube embedded with cartilaginous rings that prevent the tube from collapsing as air moves in and out of the lungs. The trachea and so splits into a left and right bronchus, which meet the lungs at a structure called the hilum. From there, the bronchi divide into progressively more narrow and numerous branches. The bronchi branch into bronchioles, into respiratory bronchioles, and ultimately terminate at the alveolar ducts. The branching that is typically found in rabbit lungs is a clear instance of monopodial branching, in which smaller branches divide out laterally from a larger cardinal branch.^[31]

The structure of the rabbit's nasal and oral cavities, necessitates animate through the nose. This is due to the fact that the epiglottis is fixed to the backmost portion of the soft palate.^[30] Inside the oral cavity, a layer of tissue sits over the opening of the glottis, which blocks airflow from the oral cavity to the trachea.^[28] The epiglottis functions to prevent the rabbit from aspirating on its food. Further, the presence of a soft and hard palate let the rabbit to breathe through its nose while information technology feeds.^{[29] [ page needed ]}

Monopodial branching every bit seen in dissected rabbit lungs.

Rabbits lungs are divided into 4 lobes: the cranial, middle, caudal, and accessory lobes. The right lung is made up of all 4 lobes, while the left lung merely has 2: the cranial and caudal lobes.^[31] In social club to provide space for the heart, the left cranial lobe of the lungs is significantly smaller than that of the right.^[28] The diaphragm is a muscular structure that lies caudal to the lungs and contracts to facilitate respiration.^{[28] [30]}

Digestion

Rabbits are herbivores that feed by grazing on grass and other leafy plants. In upshot, their nutrition contains big amounts of cellulose, which is hard to digest. Rabbits solve this trouble via a grade of hindgut fermentation. They laissez passer two distinct types of feces: hard droppings and soft black viscous pellets, the latter of which are known as caecotrophs or "night droppings" ^[32] and are immediately eaten (a behaviour known as coprophagy). Rabbits reingest their ain debris (rather than chewing the cud as do cows and numerous other herbivores) to assimilate their food further and extract sufficient nutrients.^[33]

Rabbits graze heavily and quickly for roughly the first one-half-60 minutes of a grazing period (usually in the late afternoon), followed past about one-half an hour of more selective feeding.^{[ commendation needed ]} In this fourth dimension, the rabbit will also excrete many difficult fecal pellets, existence waste material pellets that will not be reingested.^{[ citation needed ]} If the environment is relatively non-threatening, the rabbit volition remain outdoors for many hours, grazing at intervals.^{[ commendation needed ]} While out of the burrow, the rabbit will occasionally reingest its soft, partially digested pellets; this is rarely observed, since the pellets are reingested equally they are produced.^{[ citation needed ]}

Video of a wild European rabbit with ears twitching and a bound

Hard pellets are made upwards of hay-like fragments of plant cuticle and stalk, being the final waste product subsequently redigestion of soft pellets. These are merely released outside the burrow and are not reingested. Soft pellets are ordinarily produced several hours subsequently grazing, afterward the hard pellets accept all been excreted.^{[ citation needed ]} They are made up of micro-organisms and undigested plant cell walls.^{[ citation needed ]}

Rabbits are hindgut digesters. This means that well-nigh of their digestion takes place in their large intestine and cecum. In rabbits, the cecum is about 10 times bigger than the stomach and information technology along with the large intestine makes up roughly 40% of the rabbit's digestive tract.^[34] The unique musculature of the cecum allows the intestinal tract of the rabbit to separate gristly material from more than 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 chosen "night feces", are high in minerals, vitamins and proteins that are necessary to the rabbit's health. Rabbits swallow these to meet their nutritional requirements; the mucous coating allows the nutrients to pass through the acidic stomach for digestion in the intestines. This procedure allows rabbits to extract the necessary nutrients from their nutrient.^[35]

The chewed plant material collects in the big cecum, a secondary chamber between the large and small intestine containing big quantities of symbiotic bacteria that assist with the digestion of cellulose and also produce certain B vitamins. The pellets are about 56% bacteria by dry weight, largely bookkeeping for the pellets being 24.iv% poly peptide on average. The soft carrion grade hither and contain up to five times the vitamins of hard feces. After being excreted, they are eaten whole by the rabbit and redigested in a special part of the stomach. The pellets remain intact for up to six hours in the stomach; the bacteria within keep to digest the plant carbohydrates. This double-digestion process enables rabbits to use nutrients that they may have missed during the first passage through the gut, as well equally the nutrients formed by the microbial activity and thus ensures that maximum nutrition is derived from the food they consume.^[11] This process serves the same purpose in the rabbit as rumination does in cattle and sheep.^[36]

Dissected paradigm of the male person rabbit reproductive system with key structures labeled.

Because rabbits cannot vomit,^[37] if buildup occurs within the intestines (due often to a nutrition with insufficient fibre),^[38] intestinal blockage can occur.^[39]

Reproduction

Diagram of the male rabbit reproductive system with chief components labeled.

The developed male reproductive organisation forms the same as most mammals with the seminiferous tubular compartment containing the Sertoli cells and an adluminal compartment that contains the Leydig cells.^[40] The Leydig cells produce testosterone, which maintains libido^[forty] and creates secondary sex characteristics such as the genital tubercle and penis. The Sertoli cells triggers the product of Anti-Müllerian duct hormone, which absorbs the Müllerian duct. In an developed male rabbit, the sheath of the penis is cylinder-like and can be extruded as early equally two months of age.^[41] The scrotal sacs lay lateral to the penis and contain epididymal fat pads which protect the testes. Between 10 and 14 weeks, the testes descend and are able to retract into the pelvic crenel in gild to thermoregulate.^[41] Furthermore, the secondary sexual practice characteristics, such equally the testes, are complex and secrete many compounds. These compounds includes fructose, citric acid, minerals, and a uniquely high amount of catalase.^[40]

Diagram of the female person rabbit reproductive system with master components labeled.

The adult female reproductive tract is bipartite, which prevents an embryo from translocating between uteri.^[42] The two uterine horns communicate to two cervixes and forms ane vaginal canal. Along with beingness bipartite, the female person rabbit does non go through an estrus cycle, which causes mating induced ovulation.^[41]

The average female rabbit becomes sexually mature at 3 to eight months of historic period and tin conceive at any time of the yr for the duration of her life. Yet, egg and sperm product tin can begin to pass up afterwards iii years.^[40] During mating, the male person rabbit will mountain the female person rabbit from behind and insert his penis into the female and brand rapid pelvic hip thrusts. The encounter lasts only twenty–40 seconds and after, the male will throw himself backwards off the female.^[43]

The rabbit gestation period is short and ranges from 28 to 36 days with an average period of 31 days. A longer gestation period will generally yield a smaller litter while shorter gestation periods will give birth to a larger litter. The size of a single litter can range from four to 12 kits assuasive a female to deliver upwardly to 60 new kits a twelvemonth. After birth, the female person tin can become meaning once again as early as the next day.^[41]

The mortality rates of embryos are high in rabbits and tin can be due to infection, trauma, poor diet and ecology stress so a high fertility charge per unit is necessary to counter this.^[41]

Sleep

Rabbits may appear to be crepuscular, but their natural inclination is toward nocturnal activity.^[44] In 2011, the average sleep time of a rabbit in captivity was calculated at 8.iv hours per twenty-four hour period.^[45] As with other prey animals, rabbits ofttimes sleep with their eyes open up, so that sudden movements will awaken the rabbit to respond to potential danger.^[46]

Diseases

In addition to beingness at take a chance of affliction from common pathogens such as Bordetella bronchiseptica and Escherichia coli, rabbits can contract the virulent, species-specific viruses RHD ("rabbit hemorrhagic disease", a form of calicivirus)^[47] or myxomatosis. Amongst the parasites that infect rabbits are tapeworms (such as Taenia serialis), external parasites (including fleas and mites), coccidia species, and Toxoplasma gondii.^{[48] [49]} Domesticated rabbits with a diet lacking in high fiber sources, such as hay and grass, are susceptible to potentially lethal gastrointestinal stasis.^[50] Rabbits and hares are almost never found to be infected with rabies and accept not been known to transmit rabies to humans.^[51]

Encephalitozoon cuniculi, an obligate intracellular parasite is as well capable of infecting many mammals including rabbits.

Ecology

Rabbit kits 1 hour subsequently birth

Rabbits are prey animals and are therefore constantly aware of their surroundings. For instance, in Mediterranean Europe, rabbits are the main casualty of red foxes, badgers, and Iberian lynxes.^[52] If confronted past a potential threat, a rabbit may freeze and discover and then warn others in the warren with powerful thumps on the ground. Rabbits have a remarkably broad field of vision, and a proficient bargain of information technology is devoted to overhead scanning.^[53] They survive predation by burrowing, hopping abroad 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 guild to escape a struggle.^[54] The longest-lived rabbit on record, a domesticated European rabbit living in Tasmania, died at age 18.^[55] The lifespan of wild rabbits is much shorter; the boilerplate longevity of an eastern cottontail, for instance, is less than ane year.^[56]

Habitat and range

Rabbit habitats include meadows, forest, forests, grasslands, deserts and wetlands.^[57] Rabbits live in groups, and the all-time known species, the European rabbit, lives in burrows, or rabbit holes. A group of burrows is called a warren.^[57]

More than than one-half the world's rabbit population resides in North America.^[57] They are besides native to southwestern Europe, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, some islands of Nippon, and in parts of Africa and South America. They are not naturally institute in virtually of Eurasia, where a number of species of hares are nowadays. Rabbits first entered S America relatively recently, as part of the Neat American Interchange. Much of the continent has only ane species of rabbit, the tapeti, while most of Southward America'due south southern cone is without rabbits.

The European rabbit has been introduced to many places effectually the world.^[11]

Rabbits have been launched into space orbit.^[58]

Environmental problems

Impact of rabbit-proof argue, Cobar, New South Wales, 1905

Rabbits have been a source of environmental bug when introduced into the wild past humans. As a result of their appetites, and the rate at which they brood, feral rabbit depredation can be problematic for agriculture. Gassing (fumigation of warrens),^[59] barriers (fences), shooting, snaring, and ferreting have been used to control rabbit populations, but the about effective measures are diseases such every bit myxomatosis (myxo or mixi, colloquially) and calicivirus. In Europe, where rabbits are farmed on a big scale, they are protected against myxomatosis and calicivirus with a genetically modified virus. The virus was developed in Spain, and is benign to rabbit farmers. If it were to make its way into wild populations in areas such every bit Australia, it could create a population nail, as those diseases are the virtually serious threats to rabbit survival. Rabbits in Australia and New Zealand are considered to be such a pest that land owners are legally obliged to control them.^{[60] [61]}

As nutrient and vesture

Saint Jerome in the Desert
[Note rabbit being chased by a domesticated hound]
Taddeo Crivelli (Italian, died about 1479)

Rabbit existence prepared in the kitchen
Simulation of daily life, mid-15th century
Hospices de Beaune, France

In some areas, wild rabbits and hares are hunted for their meat, a lean source of loftier quality protein.^[62] In the wild, such hunting is achieved with the aid of trained falcons, ferrets, or dogs, every bit well as with snares or other traps, and rifles. A defenseless rabbit may be dispatched with a sharp blow to the dorsum of its head, a practice from which the term rabbit punch is derived.

Wild leporids comprise a pocket-sized portion of global rabbit-meat consumption. Domesticated descendants of the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) that are bred and kept as livestock (a exercise called cuniculture) account for the estimated 200 million tons of rabbit meat produced annually.^[63] Approximately ane.2 billion rabbits are slaughtered each twelvemonth for meat worldwide.^[64] In 1994, the countries with the highest consumption per capita of rabbit meat were Republic of malta with 8.89 kg (nineteen lb x oz), Italy with v.71 kg (12 lb 9 oz), and Republic of cyprus with 4.37 kg (9 lb 10 oz), falling to 0.03 kg (1 oz) in Japan. The figure for the U.s. was 0.xiv kg (5 oz) per capita. The largest producers of rabbit meat in 1994 were China, Russian federation, Italy, French republic, and Espana.^[65] Rabbit meat was one time a common commodity in Sydney, Australia, but declined after the myxomatosis virus was intentionally introduced to command the exploding population of feral rabbits in the surface area.

In the U.k., fresh rabbit is sold in butcher shops and markets, and some supermarkets sell frozen rabbit meat. At farmers markets there, including the famous Borough Market in London, rabbit carcasses are sometimes displayed hanging, unbutchered (in the traditional style), adjacent to braces of pheasant or other small game. Rabbit meat is a characteristic of Moroccan cuisine, where information technology is cooked in a tajine with "raisins and grilled almonds added a few minutes before serving".^[66] In China, rabbit meat is especially popular in Sichuan cuisine, with its stewed rabbit, spicy diced rabbit, BBQ-style rabbit, and even spicy rabbit heads, which have been compared to spicy duck neck.^[63] Rabbit meat is comparatively unpopular elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific.

An extremely rare infection associated with rabbits-as-food is tularemia (also known as rabbit fever), which may exist contracted from an infected rabbit.^[67] Hunters are at college risk for tularemia because of the potential for inhaling the bacteria during the skinning process.

In addition to their meat, rabbits are used for their wool, fur, and pelts, too every bit their nitrogen-rich manure and their high-poly peptide milk.^[68] Product industries have developed domesticated rabbit breeds (such equally the well-known Angora rabbit) to efficiently fill these needs.

In art, literature, and civilization

Rabbits are often used every bit a symbol of fertility or rebirth, and have long been associated with spring and Easter every bit the Easter Bunny. The species' function as a prey animal with few defenses evokes vulnerability and innocence, and in sociology and modern children'southward stories, rabbits oftentimes appear every bit sympathetic characters, able to connect hands with youth of all kinds (for instance, the Velveteen Rabbit, or Thumper in Bambi).

With its reputation equally a prolific breeder, the rabbit juxtaposes sexuality with innocence, equally in the Playboy Bunny. The rabbit (every bit a swift casualty animal) is likewise known for its speed, agility, and endurance, symbolized (for case) by the marketing icons the Energizer Bunny and the Duracell Bunny.

Sociology

The rabbit frequently appears in folklore as the trickster archetype, as he uses his cunning to outwit his enemies.

"Rabbit fools Elephant by showing the reflection of the moon".
Illustration (from 1354) of the Panchatantra

• In Aztec mythology, a pantheon of four hundred rabbit gods known equally Centzon Totochtin, led by Ometochtli or 2 Rabbit, represented fertility, parties, and drunkenness.
• In Key Africa, the mutual hare (Kalulu), is "inevitably described" equally a trickster figure.^[69]
• In Chinese folklore, rabbits accompany Chang'e on the Moon. In the Chinese New Year, the zodiacal rabbit is ane of the twelve celestial animals in the Chinese zodiac. Note that the Vietnamese zodiac includes a zodiacal cat in place of the rabbit, possibly because rabbits did not inhabit Vietnam.^{[ citation needed ]} The virtually common explanation, nonetheless, is that the ancient Vietnamese discussion for "rabbit" (mao) sounds similar the Chinese give-and-take for "true cat" (卯, mao).^[70]
• In Japanese tradition, rabbits live on the Moon where they brand mochi, the popular snack of mashed sticky rice. This comes from interpreting the pattern of night patches on the moon equally a rabbit standing on tiptoes on the left pounding on an usu, a Japanese mortar.
• In Jewish folklore, rabbits (shfanim שפנים) are associated with cowardice, a usage still current in contemporary Israeli spoken Hebrew (similar to the English vernacular employ of "craven" to denote cowardice).
• In Korean mythology, as in Japanese, rabbits live on the moon making rice cakes ("Tteok" in Korean).
• In Anishinaabe traditional beliefs, held by the Ojibwe and some other Native American peoples, Nanabozho, or Great Rabbit, is an important deity related to the creation of the world.
• A Vietnamese mythological story portrays the rabbit of innocence and youthfulness. The Gods of the myth are shown to be hunting and killing rabbits to bear witness off their power.
• Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism have associations with an ancient round motif called the three rabbits (or "three hares"). Its meaning ranges from "peace and tranquility", to purity or the Holy Trinity, to Kabbalistic levels of the soul or to the Jewish diaspora. The tripartite symbol also appears in heraldry and even tattoos.

The rabbit as trickster is a part of American popular civilization, equally Br'er Rabbit (from African-American folktales and, later, Disney animation) and Bugs Bunny (the cartoon character from Warner Bros.), for example.

Anthropomorphized rabbits accept appeared in film and literature, in Alice'southward Adventures in Wonderland (the White Rabbit and the March Hare characters), in Watership Down (including the pic and television adaptations), in Rabbit Hill (past Robert Lawson), and in the Peter Rabbit stories (by Beatrix Potter). In the 1920s, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, was a popular cartoon graphic symbol.

WWII USAF pilot D. R. Emerson
"flys with a rabbit'due south foot talisman,
a gift from a New York daughter friend"

A rabbit's foot may exist carried as an amulet, believed to bring protection and good luck. This conventionalities is plant in many parts of the world, with the earliest use being recorded in Europe c. 600 BC.^[71]

On the Isle of Portland in Dorset, United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland, the rabbit is said to exist unlucky and even speaking the animal'due south name can crusade upset among older island residents. This is thought to date back to early times in the local quarrying industry where (to save space) extracted stones that were non fit for sale were set aside in what became tall, unstable walls. The local rabbits' tendency to burrow there would weaken the walls and their collapse resulted in injuries or fifty-fifty expiry. Thus, invoking the name of the culprit became an unlucky act to be avoided. In the local culture to this day, the rabbit (when he has to be referred to) may instead be called a "long ears" or "underground mutton", so as not to adventure bringing a downfall upon oneself. While it was truthful l years ago^{[ when? ]} that a pub on the island could be emptied by calling out the give-and-take "rabbit", this has become more fable than fact in mod times.^{[ commendation needed ]}

In other parts of Great britain and in North America, invoking the rabbit'due south name may instead bring good luck. "Rabbit rabbit rabbit" is one variant of an apotropaic or talismanic superstition that involves saying or repeating the discussion "rabbit" (or "rabbits" or "white rabbits" or some combination thereof) out loud upon waking on the showtime 24-hour interval of each month, because doing so will ensure expert fortune for the duration of that month.

The "rabbit test" is a term, first used in 1949, for the Friedman test, an early diagnostic tool for detecting a pregnancy in humans. It is a common misconception (or perhaps an urban fable) that the test-rabbit would die if the adult female was pregnant. This led to the phrase "the rabbit died" becoming a euphemism for a positive pregnancy exam.

See also

• Animal track
• Cuniculture
• Dwarf rabbit
• Hare games
• Jackalope
• List of creature names
• Listing of rabbit breeds
• Lop rabbit
• Rabbits in the arts
• Rabbit show jumping

References

Notes

1. ^ This genus is considered a hare, not a rabbit

Citations

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Further reading

• Windling, Terri. The Symbolism of Rabbits and Hares ^[usurped!]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rabbits.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Rabbit

• American Rabbit Breeders Association arrangement, which promotes all phases of rabbit keeping
• House Rabbit Gild an activist system that promotes keeping rabbits indoors

smithlivelyins.blogspot.com

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit

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