European rabbit
| European rabbit | |
|---|---|
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| O. c. cuniculus in Burgos, Spain | |
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| O. c. algirus in A Coruña, Galicia, Spain
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Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Lagomorpha |
| Family: | Leporidae |
| Genus: | Oryctolagus |
| Species: | O. cuniculus[3] |
| Binomial name | |
| Oryctolagus cuniculus[3] | |
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| Range map: Native (IUCN, 2019) Introduced (IUCN, 2008) | |
| Synonyms[4] | |
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List
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The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) or coney[5] is a species of rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France. It has been introduced to hundreds of locations around the world. Wild and domesticated European rabbits around the world can vary widely in size, shape, and colour. The average adult European rabbit is smaller than the European hare, though size and weight vary with habitat and diet.
European rabbits prefer grassland habitats and are herbivorous, mainly feeding on grasses and leaves, though they may supplement their diet with berries, tree bark, and field crops such as maize. They are prey to a variety of predators, including birds of prey, weasels, cats, and canids. The European rabbit's main defence against predators is to run and hide, using vegetation and its own burrows for cover. It is well known for digging networks of burrows, called warrens, where it spends most of its time when not feeding. The European rabbit lives in social groups centred around territorial females. European rabbits in an established social group will rarely stray far from their warren, with female rabbits leaving the warren mainly to establish nests where they will raise their young. Unlike hares, rabbits are born blind and helpless, requiring maternal care until they leave the nest.
The European rabbit has been hunted since the Paleolithic period, and raised as a food source since at least the first century BCE. It has also had major agricultural and biological impacts as an invasive species. It is the only domesticated species of rabbit, and all known breeds of domestic rabbit are its descendants. It has often been introduced to exotic locations as a food source or for sport hunting. It has been introduced to at least 800 islands and every continent except Antarctica, often with devastating effects on local biodiversity due to a lack of predators. However, the species is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as it has faced population decline in its native range due to overhunting, habitat destruction, and diseases such as myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease. This decline has directly led to negative impacts on populations of the Iberian lynx and Spanish imperial eagle, predators that rely on the rabbit as food.
Evolution
[edit]Taxonomy
[edit]Originally assigned to the genus Lepus by Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus in 1758,[6] the European rabbit was placed in the newly created genus Oryctolagus in 1874 by Swedish zoologist Wilhelm Lilljeborg.[7] This generic name derives from ὀρυκτός (oryktos, 'burrowing') and λαγώς (lagōs, 'hare').[8][9] Its species name, cuniculus, stems from the Low Latin root word cunicularia, the feminine form of the adjective cunicularius.[10][11] The European rabbit had several characteristics that distinguished it from the known hares:[7] it had unique burrowing habits, blind and helpless (altricial) young, and a narrow nasal opening.[9] It is superficially similar to the North American cottontails (Sylvilagus) in that both are altricial, have white flesh, and display little sexual dimorphism. However, they differ in skull characteristics, and cottontails do not construct their own burrows as the European rabbit does.[12] Molecular studies confirm the resemblance is due to convergent evolution,[13] and that the European rabbit's closest relatives are the riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis), the hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), and the Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi).[14] The European rabbit gene IGKC1, responsible for the principal immunoglobulin light chain,[15] shows high amino acid divergence between domesticated types and ferals derived from them. This divergence can be as high as 40%,[16] and indicates high genetic diversity of populations surviving over evolutionary time scales.[15]
The following cladogram, based on analysis of nuclear and mitochondrial DNA done by Matthee and colleagues in 2004 and clarifications from Abrantes and colleagues in 2011, encompasses the known genera of rabbits and hares:[17]
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Subspecies
[edit]As of 2025[update] there are two recognized subspecies of the European rabbit: O. c. cuniculus and O. c. algirus.[18][19] These subspecies are also referred to as the common rabbit and the Iberian rabbit, respectively.[20] The common rabbit has a native range encompassing parts of southern France and north-east Spain, while the Iberian rabbit occurs in the south-west part of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal and Andorra).[21] Both subspecies have been introduced to regions beyond their native range, though the common rabbit is much more widespread. While the common rabbit has been introduced to every continent besides Antarctica and several hundred islands, the Iberian rabbit is only known as non-native on a few islands: the Azores, Madeira, Canary,[22] and Balearic Islands; Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily.[23]
The two accepted subspecies of European rabbit differ enough such that they have been proposed for separation into distinct species.[24] Compared to the common rabbit, the Iberian rabbit is smaller and has more pronounced reverse sexual dimorphism (females are larger).[25] It is also affected by different parasites. The Iberian rabbit has a notably high diversity of nucleotides compared to other rabbits.[24]
Historically, the number and names of the European rabbit's subspecies have changed. Their original descriptions were often differentiated only in body size or patterns in fur colour. Little to no reference was given for a subspecies' geographic range or variations in size or appearance. Writing in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society in 1996, Colin Sharples and colleagues noted that "[t]here has been no comprehensive account of the taxonomic status of the European rabbit since Miller's (1912) catalogue of European mammals".[26] The referenced Gerrit Smith Miller Jr., an American naturalist, described two subspecies of European rabbit in 1912: the nominate subspecies O. c. cuniculus, and the Mediterranean rabbit O. c. huxleyi. He noted that the 19th-century species Lepus vernicularis and Lepus vermicula were nomina nuda (having no proper description) and should be considered synonyms of the common rabbit. Cuniculus fodiens was also made a synonym of the common rabbit in this work. Of the Mediterranean rabbit, Miller wrote that it was smaller than O. c. cuniculus and appeared to have a "more grey and finely grizzled" colour.[27][a] In 1951, Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott provided a list of six subspecies; there they wrote that the species Cuniculus kreyenbergi was a synonym of O. c. cuniculus. This was based on a 1938 account by American zoologist Glover Morrill Allen that presumed it to be a non-native population of the European rabbit in China.[29] A profile of the species by John A. Gibb in 1990 followed Miller and again recognized only O. c. cuniculus and O. c. huxleyi. Sharples found in 1996 that there were two distinct lineages of mitochondrial DNA in Europe, but did not recommend which subspecies should be recognized going forward, if any.[26] By 2005, six subspecies were recognized in the third edition of Mammal Species of the World:[20]
- Common rabbit O. c. cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758)
- Iberian rabbit O. c. algirus (Loche, 1858)
- Mediterranean rabbit O. c. huxleyi Haeckel, 1874
- Cretan rabbit O. c. cnossius Bate, 1906
- Camargue rabbit O. c. brachyotus Trouessart, 1917
- African rabbit O. c. habetensis Cabrera, 1923
This organization was similar to that put forth by Ellerman and Morrisson-Scott in 1951. The earlier account differed in that the Cretan rabbit was considered a synonym of the Mediterranean rabbit, and O. c. oreas—thought to be a subspecies endemic to Morocco—was an accepted name.[29] This taxonomy was challenged by genetic studies undertaken in 2008, which indicated only two extant subspecies: O. c. cuniculus and O. c. algirus.[30] These remain the two recognized subspecies of European rabbit, as of 2025.[18][19] The two lineages are thought to have diverged during the Quaternary glaciation 2 million years ago (Mya).[25] Most populations in regions where the European rabbit is not native are considered to belong to O. c. cuniculus. This includes O. c. brachyotus, O. c. cnossius, and O. c. habetensis.[2] Conservation efforts have historically treated the common rabbit and Iberian rabbit as interchangeable with regards to policies and translocation programmes; this has impacted the declining Iberian rabbit population and spurred efforts to recognize the two lineages as separate species.[31]
| Subspecies | Trinomial authority | Skull | Image | Description | Range | Synonyms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Common rabbit O. c. cuniculus (Nominate subspecies) |
(Linnaeus, 1758) | .png) |
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Longer ears and hind feet, greater body mass overall, less pronounced reverse sexual dimorphism compared to O. c. algirus.[25] | Native to northeastern Iberia and southern France.[21] Introduced to Crete,[23] northern Morocco, northern Algeria,[32] the British Isles, Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Africa, and several Atlantic and Pacific islands.[22] |
brachyotus (Trouessart, 1917) cnossius fodiens habetensis kreyenbergi vermicula vernicularis |
| Iberian rabbit O. c. algirus |
(Loche, 1858)[33] | .png) |
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Smaller and with more pronounced reverse sexual dimorphism compared to O. c. cuniculus.[25] Notably high diversity of nucleotides compared to other rabbits. Affected by different parasites compared to O. c. cuniculus.[24] |
Native to Portugal and southern Spain.[21] |
huxleyi[28] (Haeckel, 1874) |
Fossil record
[edit]The oldest known fossils of the currently living European rabbit species, Oryctolagus cuniculus, date to 0.6 million years ago in the Middle Pleistocene age in southern Spain. The first fossils belonging to the genus Oryctolagus were found in Granada and date to 6 Mya during the Miocene epoch.[21] Species such as O. laynensis, a presumed ancestor of O. cuniculus, and O. lacosti were recorded from 3.5 Mya up until the appearance of O. cuniculus. This species, O. cuniculus, was the only member of its genus to survive to the Late Pleistocene, whereupon it spread from the Iberian Peninsula to the Mediterranean and northern Europe.[1] Fossils of the European rabbit are also known in the Maghreb from this period, though they were likely introduced to the region by humans.[32] During the Last Glacial Maximum, a period lasting roughly from 26.5 to 19 thousand years ago, much of Europe was covered in permafrost, and conditions were cold and dry.[34] Glaciers were at their greatest extent from 20 to 18 thousand years ago.[35] Rabbit populations during this period were largely confined to the Iberian Peninsula and southern France, where they remained in two distinct, isolated refugia. They dispersed away from these refugia into central Spain after glaciers retreated,[36] in the Early Holocene epoch roughly 11.5 thousand years ago.[21]
Description
[edit]
Adult European rabbits typically range from 36 to 38 centimetres (14 to 15 inches) in length and weigh 1.5 to 3 kilograms (3.3 to 6.6 pounds).[39] The tail is 6.5 to 7 cm (2.6 to 2.8 in) long, and the hind foot measures 8 to 8.9 cm (3.1 to 3.5 in) in length. The ears are 7 to 8 cm (2.8 to 3.1 in) long.[39] The European rabbit is smaller than the European hare and mountain hare, has proportionately shorter legs and lacks black ear tips.[40]
Size and weight vary according to food and habitat quality. Rabbits living on light soil with nothing but grass to feed on are noticeably smaller than specimens living on highly cultivated farmlands with plenty of roots and clover. Pure European rabbits weighing 2.3 kg (5 lb) and upwards are uncommon, but are occasionally reported. One large specimen, caught in February 1890 in Lichfield, England, was weighed at 2.8 kg (6 lb 2 oz).[41] Within its native range of the Iberian peninsula, the European rabbit is generally smaller than in regions it has been introduced to, weighing from 0.9 to 1.4 kg (2.0 to 3.1 lb).[39] Unlike the brown hare, the male European rabbit is more heavily built than the female.[42] The penis is located posterior to the scrotum[43] and lacks a baculum (the penis bone, present in many mammals, but not in rabbits[43]) and true glans.[7] The testicles, which are located in scrotal sacs to each side of the penis, can be retracted into the abdomen when food is scarce or when sexually inactive. Rudimentary nipples are also present in male rabbits.[44]
The fur of the European rabbit is made up of soft down hair covered by stiff guard hairs,[44] and is generally greyish-brown, though this is subject to much variation. The guard hairs are banded brown and black, or grey, while the nape of the neck and scrotum are reddish. The chest patch is brown, while the rest of the underparts are white or grey. A white star shape is often present on kittens' foreheads, but rarely occurs in adults. The whiskers are long and black, and the feet are fully furred and buff-coloured.[7] The tail has a white underside, which becomes prominent when escaping danger. This may act as a signal for other rabbits to run.[41][45]
Moulting occurs once a year, beginning in March on the face and spreading over the back. The underfur is completely replaced by October–November.[7] The European rabbit exhibits great variation in colour, from white and light sandy to dark grey and completely black. Such variation depends largely on the amount of guard hairs relative to regular pelage. Melanistic rabbits are not uncommon in mainland Europe, though albinos are rare.[37]
The skeleton and musculature of the European rabbit, like other rabbits and hares, are suited to survival by rapid escape from predators. Compared to other mammals of similar size, the European rabbit's skeleton is fragile and light, making up 8% of the rabbit's body weight on average. For comparison, the skeleton of a domestic cat makes up 13% of its weight. Most of the muscular development in the rabbit is focused in the lumbar (abdominal) region and the limbs, particularly in the thighs.[46] The rabbit's hind limbs are an exaggerated feature, being much longer and capable of producing more force than the forelimbs.[47] Underuse of the rabbit's muscles leads to osteoporosis via bone rarefaction.[48]
Life history and behaviour
[edit]
Social and territorial behaviour
[edit]The European rabbit lives in burrows known as warrens that contain social groups consisting of one to five adult males, known as bucks, and one to eight adult females, known as does.[49] These warrens often form around a dominant male and several subordinate females and males,[50] and they benefit the population by providing a location safe from predators to raise young.[49] Breeding groups of rabbits may extend to include two or more nearby warrens if beneficial to the population.[51] European rabbits are territorial,[52] and even within a warren will defend their territory against neighbouring social groups.[53] Females tend to be more territorial than males.[54] Rabbit territories are marked with dung hills, known as latrines.[55][56]
The size of the species' home range varies according to habitat, food, shelter, cover from predators, and breeding sites, though it is generally small, encompassing about 4 ha (9.9 acres).[57] Male ranges tend to be larger than those of females, though this can vary depending on environmental factors. Female home ranges have been observed to be larger than those of males when rabbit density is low and high-quality food is abundant. The European rabbit rarely strays far from its burrow; when feeding on cultivated fields, it typically only moves 25 m (80 ft) away from its burrow, and rarely 50 m (160 ft). It may, however, move as far as 500 m (1,600 ft) after an abrupt change in environment, such as a harvest. This behaviour may be an antipredator adaptation, as rabbits in areas where predators are under rigorous control may move three times further from their burrows than those in areas without predator management.[58]
The European rabbit is a gregarious animal, which lives in stable social groups centred around females and sharing access to one or more burrow systems. Social structures tend to be looser in areas where burrow construction is relatively easy. Dominance hierarchies exist in parallel for both bucks and does. Among bucks, status is determined through access to does, with dominant bucks siring the majority of the colony's offspring. The dominant does have priority access to the best nesting sites, with competition over such sites often leading to serious injury or death;[58] they have been observed fighting as hard or harder than bucks when vying for resources, including good nesting sites.[50] Subordinate does, particularly in large colonies, typically resort to using single-entrance breeding spots far from the main warren,[58] or may abandon the warren entirely,[55] thus making themselves vulnerable to fox or badger predation.[58]
Reproduction and development
[edit]_'Maternal_instinct'.png)
In the European rabbit's mating system, dominant bucks exhibit polygyny,[59] whereas lower-status individuals (both bucks and does) often form monogamous breeding relationships; monogamous relationships are also common among groups of rabbits with lower density of females.[60] Rabbits signal their readiness to copulate by marking other animals and inanimate objects with an odoriferous substance secreted through a chin gland, in a process known as "chinning".[61] Though male European rabbits may sometimes be amicable with one another, fierce fights can erupt among bucks during the breeding season,[62] which typically starts in autumn and continues through to spring. Occasionally, the mating season will extend into the summer.[63]
A succession of 4 to 5 litters are produced annually,[57] but in overpopulated areas, pregnant does may lose all their embryos through intrauterine resorption. Each litter usually produces three to seven kittens.[64] Shortly before giving birth, the doe constructs a separate burrow known as a "stop" or "stab", generally in an open field away from the main warren. These breeding burrows are typically a few feet long and are lined with grass and moss, as well as fur plucked from the doe's belly. The breeding burrow protects the kittens from adult bucks and predators,[65] and the nest lining protects them from hypothermia.[66]
The gestation period of the European rabbit is 30 days,[67][57] with the sex ratio of male to female kittens tending to be 1:1.[64] Kittens born to the dominant buck and doe—which enjoy better nesting and feeding grounds—tend to grow larger and stronger and become more dominant than those born to subordinate rabbits.[68] Not uncommonly, European rabbits mate again immediately after giving birth, with some specimens having been observed to nurse previous young while pregnant.[67] Female European rabbits may become pregnant at three months of age, but do not reach their full reproductive ability until they are two years old, after which they remain able to reproduce for four more years.