THE VOLCANO RABBIT – WAIT…REALLY?
Seems
like the two terms just don’t mix; volcano and rabbit. My interest was piqued,
so this week I'm offering a bit of information about this very ancient and endangered
species of mammal. There is no current fossil data to give exact dates as to how old this species is. However, most scientists agree that it is the most
primitive of living rabbits and hares. The Volcano Rabbit is monotypic. This means that it is
the only species of its genus.
The
Volcano Rabbit is not only one of the oldest of the rabbit species; it is also
one of the smallest. They average about one pound, and are about twelve inches
long. It is related to the Pika, which is also a member of the rabbit family.
You can certainly see the resemblance. The American Pika, pictured below, lives
in alpine regions of southwestern Canada and the western United States. The
populations of this animal are in trouble due to climate change.
So let’s
get back to the Volcano Rabbit. It’s called the Volcano Rabbit because it lives
exclusively on the slopes of four volcanoes in central Mexico, south of Mexico
City (Popocatepetl, Iztaccihuatl, El Pelado and Tlaloc). The rabbit has short
brown to black fur, short legs and rounded ears. This species of rabbit does
not have any visible tail.
The
Volcano Rabbit subsists entirely on zacaton,
which is a family of stiff spiny grasses. Although they have been known to
occupy the burrows of other animals, the Volcano Rabbit prefers to spend most
of its time above ground hiding in the dense zacaton.
Photo credit: Alfred (Al) Toth
(pbase.com)
The
Volcano Rabbit has been declared ‘endangered’ by the IUCN*. Its current
populations are not known. Habitat destruction, climate change, and hunting are
primary reasons for declining populations. The areas in which they live have
now been protected under Mexican law, and hunting the Volcano Rabbit is illegal.
Photo credit: Joel Sartore (Photo
ark)
To learn
more about the Volcano Rabbit, visit the following sites:
*IUCN –
International Union for Conservation of Nature
My
thanks to Arkive.org for some of the information, and to all of you who stop by
on a weekly basis to support Australian Fantasy’s blog. Please come by again,
leave a comment, and share this wildlife tidbit with your children.
Enjoy!
Jeanne
E. Rogers, Award Winning Author
The Sword of Demelza and The
Gift of Sunderland
Middle
Grade Fantasy Where Endangered Animal Heroes Roam the Pages!
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