Rabbits are small in the family Leporidae (which also includes the ), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes ). The European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus is the ancestor of the world's hundreds of breeds
Rabbits are a paraphyletic grouping, and do not constitute a clade, as hares are nested within the Leporidae clade and are not included in rabbits.
Although once considered , lagomorphs diverged earlier and have a number of traits rodents lack, including two extra .
Terminology and etymology
A male rabbit is called a
buck; a female is called a
doe. 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.
Another term for a young rabbit is
bunny, though this term is often applied informally (particularly by children) to rabbits generally, especially 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 commonly refers to where the rabbits live).
The word rabbit itself derives from the Middle English rabet, a borrowing from the Walloon language robète, which was a diminutive of the French or Middle Dutch robbe.
Taxonomy
Rabbits and hares were formerly classified in the order
(rodent) until 1912, when they were moved into a new order,
Lagomorpha (which also includes
). Below are some of the genera and species of the rabbit.
File:BRACHYLAGUS IDAHOENSIS.jpg|alt=A small, round, dust-coloured rabbit with upright, close-set ears sat on the ground amidst dead branches.| Brachylagus idahoensisPygmy rabbit
File:Sumatran Striped Rabbit Recontruction.jpg|alt=A model of a relatively large rabbit, with a slightly longer face and shorter, rounder ears, and fur patterned black and gold.| Nesolagus netscheriSumatran striped rabbit
File:Oryctolagus cuniculus Tasmania 2.jpg|alt=A small, light-brown rabbit with upright ears sat on some grass.| Oryctolagus cuniculusEuropean rabbit
File:Amami rabbit Stuffed specimen.jpg|alt=A taxidermy of a large rabbit with dark brown fur, small, thin ears and an elongated, rodent-like face.| Pentalagus furnessiAmami rabbit
File:Taxidermied romerolagus diazi.JPG|alt=A taxidermy of a very small light-brown rabbit mid-gallop. Its features are equally small, appearing similar to a vole.| Romerolagus diaziVolcano rabbit
File:Southern swamp rabbit baby.jpg|alt=A juvenile rabbit sat on a white person's hand; its fur is a light brown ticked heavily with dark brown. It is not quite large enough to fill the person's hand completely.| Sylvilagus aquaticusSwamp rabbit
File:What's Up Doc.jpg|alt=A medium-sized rabbit with light brown fur ticked with grey, its ears large and upright. It stands on all fours on some sandy ground.| Sylvilagus auduboniiDesert cottontail
File:Sylvilagus bachmani 01035t.JPG|alt=A light-brown rabbit sitting in a field, its body unusually large and squat, its limbs and head small, and its ears especially small| Sylvilagus bachmaniBrush rabbit
File:Sylvilagus brasiliensis meridensis (Sylvilagus meridensis) - Museo Civico di Storia Naturale Giacomo Doria - Genoa, Italy - DSC02875.JPG|alt=A taxidermy of a small rabbit, its fur a warm brown ticked with a darker brown, its ears small and set back, its face closer to a vole's than a rabbit's | Sylvilagus brasiliensisTapeti
File:Eastern Cottontail.JPG|alt=A rabbit sitting upright in a field, turning to face the camera, its fur a light brown ticked with grey and dark brown, its ears upright | Sylvilagus floridanusEastern cottontail
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Order Lagomorpha
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Genus Pygmy rabbit
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Genus Bushman rabbit
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Genus Hare
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Genus Nesolagus
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Sumatran striped rabbit, Nesolagus netscheri
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Annamite striped rabbit, Nesolagus timminsi
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Genus European rabbit
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Genus Amami rabbit
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Genus Poelagus
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Central African Rabbit, Poelagus marjorita
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Genus Volcano rabbit
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Genus Sylvilagus
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Swamp rabbit, Sylvilagus aquaticus
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Desert cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii
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Brush rabbit, Sylvilagus bachmani
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Forest rabbit, Sylvilagus brasiliensis
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Mexican cottontail, Sylvilagus cunicularis
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Dice's cottontail, Sylvilagus dicei
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Eastern cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus
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Tres Marias rabbit, Sylvilagus graysoni
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Omilteme cottontail, Sylvilagus insonus
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San Jose brush rabbit, Sylvilagus mansuetus
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Mountain cottontail, Sylvilagus nuttallii
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Marsh rabbit, Sylvilagus palustris
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New England cottontail, Sylvilagus transitionalis
Differences from hares
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 precocial, born relatively mature and mobile with hair and good vision, while rabbit species are altricial, born hairless and blind. Hares and some rabbits live a relatively solitary life in a simple nest above the ground, while other rabbits live in social groups in , which are grouped together to form warrens. Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with ears that are more elongated and hind legs that are larger and longer. Descendants of the European rabbit are commonly bred as livestock and kept as pets, whereas no hares have been domesticated; the breed called the Belgian hare is actually a domestic rabbit which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare.
Domestication
Rabbits have long been domesticated. The European rabbit has been widely kept as livestock, starting in
ancient Rome. Selective breeding, which began in the Middle Ages, has generated a wide variety of rabbit breeds, of which many (since the early 19th century) are also kept as pets.
Some strains of rabbit have been bred specifically as
Animal testing.
As livestock, rabbits are bred for their meat and Rabbit hair. The earliest breeds were important sources of meat, and so became larger than wild rabbits, but domestic rabbits in modern times range in size from Dwarf rabbit to giant. Rabbit fur, prized for its softness, can be found in a broad range of coat colors and patterns, as well as lengths. The Angora rabbit breed, for example, was developed for its long, silky fur, which is often Hand spinning into yarn. Other domestic rabbit breeds have been developed primarily for the commercial fur trade, including the Rex rabbit, which has a short plush coat.
Biology
Evolution
Because the rabbit's
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 way they can be distinguished from
, with which they are often confused.
Another difference is that for rabbits, all of their teeth continue to grow, where as for most rodents, only their incisors continue to grow.
Carl Linnaeus originally grouped rabbits and rodents under the class
Glires; later, they were separated as the scientific consensus is that many of their similarities were a result of convergent evolution. Recent DNA analysis and the discovery of a common ancestor has supported the view that they share a common lineage, so rabbits and rodents are now often grouped together in the superorder Glires.
[Katherine Quesenberry & James W. Carpenter, Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents: Clinical Medicine and Surgery (3rd ed. 2012).]
Morphology
Since speed and agility are a rabbit's main defenses against predators (including the swift fox), rabbits have large hind leg bones and well-developed musculature. Though
plantigrade at rest, rabbits are on their toes while running, assuming a more
digitigrade posture. Rabbits use their strong claws for digging and (along with their teeth) for defense.
Each front foot has four toes plus a
dewclaw. Each hind foot has four toes (but no dewclaw).
Most wild rabbits (especially compared to hares) have relatively full, egg-shaped bodies. The soft coat of the wild rabbit is agouti in coloration (or, rarely, melanism), which aids in camouflage. The tail of the rabbit (with the exception of the cottontail species) is dark on top and white below. Cottontails have white on the top of their tails.
As a result of the position of the eyes in its skull, the rabbit has a field of vision that encompasses nearly 360 degrees, with just a small blind spot at the bridge of the nose.
Hind limb elements
The anatomy of rabbits' hind limbs is structurally similar to that of other land mammals and contributes 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 land mammals, the round head of the femur articulates with the acetabulum of the os coxae. The femur articulates with the tibia, but not the fibula, which is fused to the tibia. The tibia and fibula articulate with the tarsals of the pes, commonly called the foot. The hind limbs of the rabbit are longer than the front limbs. This allows them to produce their hopping form of locomotion. Longer hind limbs are more capable of producing faster speeds. Hares, which have longer legs than cottontail rabbits, are able to move considerably faster.
Rabbits stay just on their toes when moving; this is called
digitigrade locomotion. The hind feet have four long toes that allow for this and are webbed to prevent them from spreading when hopping.
Rabbits do not have paw pads on their feet like most other animals that use digitigrade locomotion. Instead, they have coarse compressed hair that offers protection.
Musculature
Rabbits have muscled hind legs that allow for maximum force, maneuverability, and acceleration 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 force. Rabbits run on their toes to gain the optimal stride during locomotion. The force put out by the hind limbs is contributed by both the structural anatomy of the fusion tibia and fibula, and muscular features.
Bone formation and removal, from a cellular standpoint, is directly 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.
Ears
Within the order of
Lagomorpha, the ears are used to detect and avoid predators. In the family
Leporidae, the ears are typically longer than they are wide. For example, in black-tailed jackrabbits, their long ears cover a greater surface area relative to their body size, which allows them to detect predators from far away. In contrast with cottontail rabbits, their ears are smaller and shorter, requiring that predators be closer before they can detect them and flee.
Evolution has favored rabbits with shorter ears, so the larger surface area does not cause them to lose heat in more temperate regions. The opposite can be seen in rabbits that live in hotter climates; possessing longer ears with a larger surface area helps with dispersion of heat. Since sound travels less well in arid as opposed to cooler air, longer ears may aid the organism in detecting predators sooner rather than later in warmer temperatures.
Outer ear
The auricle, also known as the pinna, is a rabbit's outer ear.
The rabbit's pinnae represent a fair part of the body surface area. It is theorized that the ears aid in dispersion of heat at temperatures above , with rabbits in warmer climates having longer pinnae due to this. Another theory is that the ears function as shock absorbers that could aid and stabilize rabbits' vision when fleeing predators, but this has typically only been seen in hares.
The rest of the outer ear has bent canals that lead to the
eardrum or
Eardrum.
Middle ear
The middle ear, separated by the outer eardrum in the back of the rabbit's skull, contains three bones: the hammer, anvil, and stirrup, collectively called
ossicles, which act to decrease sound before it hits the inner ear; in general, the ossicles act as a barrier to the inner ear for sound energy.
Inner ear
Inner ear fluid, called
endolymph, receives the sound energy. After receiving the energy. The inner ear comprises two parts: the
cochlea that uses sound waves from the ossicles, and the vestibular apparatus that manages the rabbit's position in regard to movement. Within the cochlea a
basilar membrane contains sensory hair structures that send nerve signals to the brain, allowing it to recognize different sound frequencies. Within the vestibular apparatus three semicircular canals help detect
angular motion.
Dewlaps
A
dewlap is a longitudinal flap of skin or similar flesh that hangs beneath the
lower jaw or
neck. It is a secondary sex characteristic in rabbits, caused by the presence of female sex hormones. They develop with
puberty. A female rabbit who has been
neutering before reaching sexual maturity will not develop a dewlap, and even if a doe is neutered after developing a dewlap, the dewlap will gradually disappear over several months. This also aligns with the results of injecting male rabbits with female sex hormones, specifically the ones from pregnant women's
urine. The male rabbits developed dewlaps, which then gradually disappeared once administration had ceased.
(This is not the process of the
rabbit test, a common way to test for human female pregnancy in the 20th century; the pregnancy test involved dissecting female rabbits after injection with urine to see if their ovaries had enlarged.)
While it is unclear exactly what function a dewlap performs, pregnant female rabbits will pluck fur from their dewlaps shortly before giving birth to line a nest for their young.
Thermoregulation
Thermoregulation is the process that an organism uses to maintain an optimal body temperature independent of external conditions.
This process is carried out by the pinnae, which takes up most of the rabbit's body surface and contain a vascular network and arteriovenous shunts.
In a rabbit, the optimal body temperature is around .
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 flow that passes through the ears.
Respiratory system
The rabbit's nasal cavity lies dorsal to the oral cavity, and the two compartments are separated by the hard and soft palate.
The nasal cavity itself is separated into a left and right side by a cartilage barrier, and it is covered in fine hairs that trap dust before it can enter the respiratory tract.
As the rabbit breathes, air flows in through the nostrils along the alar folds. From there, the air moves into the nasal cavity, also known as the
Pharynx, down through the trachea, through the
larynx, and into the lungs.
The larynx functions as the rabbit's voice box, which enables it to produce a wide variety of sounds.
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 then splits into a left and right bronchus, which meet the lungs at a structure called the hilum. From there, the bronchi split 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 example of monopodial branching, in which smaller branches divide out laterally from a larger central branch.
The structure of the rabbit's nasal and oral cavities necessitates breathing through the nose. This is due to the fact that the epiglottis is fixed to the backmost portion of the soft palate.
Rabbits' lungs are divided into four lobes: the cranial, middle, caudal, and accessory lobes. The right lung is made up of all four lobes, while the left lung only has two: the cranial and caudal lobes.
Diet and digestion
Rabbits are strict
and are suited to a diet high in fiber, mostly in the form of
cellulose. They will typically graze grass upon waking up and emerging from a burrow, and will move on to consume vegetation and other plants throughout the waking period; rabbits have been known to eat a wide variety of plants, including tree leaves and fruits, though consumption of fruit and lower fiber foods is more common with pet rabbits.
Easily digestible food is processed in the gastrointestinal tract and expelled as regular feces. To get nutrients out of hard to digest fiber, rabbits ferment fiber in the cecum (in the gastrointestinal tract) and then expel the contents as , which are reingested (cecotrope). The cecotropes are then absorbed in the small intestine to use the nutrients.
Because rabbits cannot vomit,
Reproduction
The adult male reproductive system forms the same as most mammals with the seminiferous tubular compartment containing the
and an adluminal compartment that contains the
.
The Leydig cells produce
testosterone, which maintains libido
and creates secondary sex characteristics such as the
genital tubercle and
penis. The Sertoli cells triggers the production of Anti-Müllerian duct hormone, which absorbs the Müllerian duct. In an adult male rabbit, the
Penile sheath is cylinder-like and can be extruded as early as two months of age.
The scrotal sacs lay lateral to the penis and contain
Epididymis fat pads which protect the testes. Between 10 and 14 weeks, the testes descend and are able to retract into the pelvic cavity to thermoregulate.
Furthermore, the secondary sex characteristics, such as the testes, are complex and secrete many compounds. These compounds include
fructose,
citric acid, minerals, and a uniquely high amount of
catalase.
The adult female reproductive tract is Bipartite uterus, which prevents an embryo from translocating between uteri.
The average female rabbit becomes sexually mature at three to eight months of age and can conceive at any time of the year for the duration of her life. Egg and sperm production can begin to decline after three years.
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 allowing a female to deliver up to 60 new kits a year. After birth, the female can become pregnant again as early as the next day.
After mating, in some species, hormonal changes will cause the doe to begin to dig a burrow for her nest about a week before giving birth. Between three days and a few hours before giving birth another series of hormonal changes will cause her to prepare the nest structure. The doe will first gather grass for a structure, and an elevation in prolactin shortly before birth will cause her fur to shed that the doe will then use to line the nest, providing insulation for the newborn kits.
The mortality rates of embryos are high in rabbits and can be due to infection, trauma, poor nutrition and environmental stress so a high fertility rate is necessary to counter this.
Sleep
Rabbits may appear to be
crepuscular, but their natural inclination is toward
nocturnal activity.
In 2011, the average sleep time of a rabbit in captivity was calculated at 8.4 hours per day.
["40 Winks?" Jennifer S. Holland, National Geographic Vol. 220, No. 1. July 2011.] As with other
, rabbits often sleep with their eyes open, so that sudden movements will awaken the rabbit to respond to potential danger.
Diseases and immunity
In addition to being at risk of disease 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)
or
myxomatosis. Among the parasites that infect rabbits are tapeworms (such as
Taenia serialis), external parasites (including fleas and mites),
coccidia species,
Encephalitozoon cuniculi,
and
Toxoplasma gondii.
Domesticated rabbits with a diet lacking in high-fiber sources, such as hay and grass, are susceptible to potentially lethal gastrointestinal stasis.
Rabbits and hares are almost never found to be infected with
rabies and have not been known to transmit rabies to humans.
Rabbit immunity has significantly diverged from other in the manner in which it employs immunoglobulin light chains.[
]
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) is caused by strains of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), including type 2 (RHDV2).
Ecology
Rabbits are
predator animals and are therefore constantly aware of their surroundings. For instance, in Mediterranean Europe, rabbits are the main prey of red foxes, badgers, and Iberian lynxes.
If confronted by a potential threat, a rabbit may freeze and observe then warn others in the warren with powerful thumps on the ground. Rabbits have a remarkably wide field of vision, and a good deal of it is devoted to overhead scanning.
[Tynes, Valarie V. Behavior of Exotic Pets . Wiley Blackwell, 2010, p. 70.] A rabbit eye has no fovea, but a "visual streak", a horizontal line in the middle of the retina that both rod and cone cell densities are the highest. This allows them to scan the horizon with little head turning.
The doe (mother) is aware that she gives off scent which can attract predators, so she will stay away from the nest to avoid putting the kits (babies) in danger, returning the nest only a few times a day to feed the kits.
Rabbits survive predation by burrowing (in some species), hopping away in a zig-zag motion, and, if captured, delivering powerful kicks with their hind legs. Their strong teeth allow them to bite to escape a struggle.[Davis, Susan E. and DeMello, Margo Stories Rabbits Tell: A Natural And Cultural History of A Misunderstood Creature . Lantern Books, 2003, p. 27.] The longest-lived rabbit on record, a domesticated European rabbit living in Tasmania, died at age 18.[ Cottontail rabbit at Indiana Department of Natural Resources ]
Habitat and range
Rabbit habitats include
,
Woodland, forests,
,
and
.
While some rabbits live solitary lives, others live in groups, and the
European rabbit, lives in
, or rabbit holes. A group of burrows is called a
warren.
More than half of the world's rabbit population resides in North America.
Rabbits have been launched into space orbit.
Environmental problems
Rabbits have been a source of environmental problems when introduced into the wild by humans. As a result of their appetites, and the rate at which they breed,
feral rabbit depredation can be problematic for agriculture. Gassing (
fumigation of warrens),
barriers (fences), shooting, snaring, and ferreting have been used to control rabbit populations, but the most effective measures are diseases such as
myxomatosis (
myxo or
mixi, colloquially) and calicivirus. In Europe, where rabbits are farmed on a large scale, they are protected against myxomatosis and calicivirus with a genetically modified virus. The virus was developed in Spain. If it were to make its way into wild populations, it could create a population boom, as those diseases are the most serious threats to rabbit survival. Rabbits in Australia and New Zealand are considered to be such a pest that landowners are legally obliged to control them.
Rabbits are known to be able to catch fire and spread wildfires, but the efficiency and relevance of this method has been doubted by forest experts who contend that a rabbit on fire could move some meters.[
]
As food and clothing
In some areas, wild rabbits and hares are hunted for their meat, a lean source of high quality protein.
Wild leporids comprise a small portion of global rabbit-meat consumption. Domesticated descendants of the European rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus) that are bred and kept as livestock (a practice called cuniculture) account for the estimated 200million tons of rabbit meat produced annually.[Olivia Geng, French Rabbit Heads: The Newest Delicacy in Chinese Cuisine . The Wall Street Journal Blog, 13 June 2014] Approximately 1.2 billion rabbits are slaughtered each year for meat worldwide.[ FAO – The Rabbit – Husbandry, health and production. ] Rabbit meat was once a common commodity in Sydney, but declined after the myxomatosis virus was intentionally introduced to control the exploding population of feral rabbits in the area.
In the United Kingdom, fresh rabbits are 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), next to braces of pheasant or other small game. Rabbit meat is a feature of Moroccan cuisine, where it is cooked in a tajine with "raisins and grilled almonds added a few minutes before serving".['Traditional Moroccan Cooking, Recipes from Fez', by Madame Guinadeau. (Serif, London, 2003). .] In China, rabbit meat is particularly popular in Sichuan cuisine, with its stewed rabbit, spicy diced rabbit, BBQ-style rabbit, and even spicy rabbit heads, which have been compared to Wuhan duck.[ 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 be contracted from an infected rabbit.
In addition to their meat, rabbits are used for their wool, Rabbit hair, and Fur, as well as their nitrogen-rich manure and their high-protein milk.
Behaviors
Binkies, also more generally called zoomies,
Rabbits mostly use full-body actions, like flopping, to communicate emotion to other rabbits and humans. Rabbits flopping in front of other rabbits can be meant as a non-aggressive insult.
Both sexes of rabbits often rub their chins on objects or people with their scent gland located under the chin. This is the rabbit's way of marking their territory or possessions for other rabbits to recognize by depositing scent gland secretions. It might also serve as a reminder for the rabbit to return and investigate the object later, helping them navigate in the dark and to help them in their recollection of where they have been. Rabbits who have bonded will respect each other's smell, which indicates a territorial border.
In culture
Rabbits are often posited by scholars as symbols of fertility and spring. The Easter Bunny is a figure from Lutheran German folklore that then spread to America and later other parts of the world and is similar to Santa Claus. The rabbits' role as a prey animal with few defenses evokes vulnerability and innocence in folklore and modern children's stories, rabbits often appear as sympathetic characters, able to connect easily with youth of all kinds (for example, the Velveteen Rabbit or Thumper in Bambi).
With its reputation as a prolific breeder, the rabbit juxtaposes Human sexuality with innocence, as in the Playboy Bunny. The rabbit is also known for its speed, agility, and endurance, symbolized (for example) by the marketing icons the Energizer Bunny and the Duracell Bunny.
Folklore
The rabbit often appears in folklore as the trickster archetype as he uses his cunning to outwit his enemies.
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In Aztec mythology, a pantheon of four hundred rabbit gods known as Centzon Totochtin, led by Ometochtli or Two Rabbit, represented fertility, parties, and drunkenness.
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In Central Africa, the common hare ( Kalulu), is "inevitably described" as a trickster figure.
[Brian Morris, The Power of Animals: An Ethnography, p. 177 (2000).]
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In Chinese folklore, rabbits accompany Chang'e on the Moon. In the Chinese New Year, the zodiacal rabbit is one of the twelve celestial animals in the Chinese zodiac. The Vietnamese zodiac includes a zodiacal cat in place of the rabbit. The most common explanation is that the ancient Vietnamese word for "rabbit" (mao) sounds like the Chinese word for "cat" (, mao).
-
In Japanese tradition, rabbits Moon rabbit where they make mochi, the popular snack of mashed Glutinous rice. This comes from interpreting the pattern of dark patches on the moon as 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 language (similar to the English colloquial use of "chicken" 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 myth portrays the rabbit as innocent and youthful. The gods of the myth are shown to be hunting and killing rabbits to show off their power.
-
Buddhism, Christianity, and Judaism have associations with an ancient circular motif called the Three hares (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 Three hares.
The rabbit as trickster is a part of American popular culture, as Br'er Rabbit (from African-American folktales and, later, Disney animation) and Bugs Bunny (the cartoon character from Warner Bros.), for example.
Anthropomorphized rabbits have appeared in film and literature, in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the White Rabbit and the March Hare characters), in Watership Down (including the film and television adaptations), in Rabbit Hill (by Robert Lawson), and in the Peter Rabbit stories (by Beatrix Potter). In the 1920s, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was a popular cartoon character.
A rabbit's foot may be carried as an amulet, believed to bring protection and luck. This belief is found in many parts of the world, with the earliest use being recorded in Europe c. 600 BC.
On the Isle of Portland in Dorset, UK, the rabbit is said to be unlucky, and speaking the creature's name can cause 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 not 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 would result in injuries or even death. 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 risk bringing a downfall upon oneself.
In other parts of Britain and in North America, "Rabbit rabbit rabbit" is one variant of an Apotropaic magic or superstition that involves saying or repeating the word "rabbit" (or "rabbits" or "white rabbits" or some combination thereof) out loud upon waking on the first day of each month, because doing so is believed to ensure good fortune for the duration of that month.
The "rabbit test" is a term first used in 1949 for the Rabbit test, an early diagnostic tool for detecting a pregnancy in humans. It is a common misconception (or perhaps an urban legend) that the test-rabbit would die if the woman was pregnant. This led to the phrase "the rabbit died" becoming a euphemism for a positive pregnancy test.
Many modern children's stories and cartoons portray rabbits as particularly fond of eating carrots. This is a misleading as wild rabbits do not naturally prefer carrots over other plants. Carrots are high in sugar, and excessive consumption can be unhealthy.
File:Syrischer Maler von 1354 001.jpg| Rabbit fools Elephant by showing the reflection of the moon. Illustration (from 1354) of the Panchatantra
File:Blason ville fr Corbenay (Haute-Saône).svg|"Three hares" motif, Coat of arms of Corbenay, France
File:PeterRabbit8.jpg|Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit
File:United States Eighth Air Force in Britain, 1942-1945 FRE39.jpg|WWII USAF pilot D. R. Emerson "with a rabbit's foot talisman, a gift from a New York girl friend"
File:Taddeo Crivelli (Italian, died about 1479, active about 1451 - 1479) - Saint Jerome in the Desert - Google Art Project.jpg| Saint Jerome in the Desert, by Taddeo Crivelli (died about 1479)
See also
Notes
Citations
Further reading
External links
