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Rabbits or bunnies are small in the family Leporidae (which also includes the ), which is in the order Lagomorpha (which also includes ). They are familiar throughout the world as a small herbivore, a prey animal, a domesticated form of livestock, and a pet, having a widespread effect on Ecology and cultures. The most widespread rabbit Genus are Oryctolagus and Sylvilagus. The former, Oryctolagus, includes the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, which is the ancestor of the hundreds of breeds of domestic rabbit and has been introduced on every continent except Antarctica. The latter, Sylvilagus, includes over 13 wild rabbit species, among them the cottontails and . Wild rabbits not included in Oryctolagus and Sylvilagus include several species of limited distribution, including the pygmy rabbit, volcano rabbit, and Sumatran striped rabbit.
Rabbits are a paraphyletic grouping, and do not constitute a clade, as hares (belonging to the genus Lepus) are nested within the Leporidae clade and are not described as rabbits. Although once considered , lagomorphs diverged earlier and have a number of traits rodents lack, including two extra . Similarities between rabbits and rodents were once attributed to convergent evolution, but studies in molecular biology have found a common ancestor between lagomorphs and rodents and place them in the clade Glires.
Rabbit physiology is suited to escaping predators and surviving in various , living either alone or in groups in nests or burrows. As prey animals, rabbits are constantly aware of their surroundings, having a wide field of vision and ears with high surface area to detect potential predators. The ears of a rabbit are essential for thermoregulation and contain a high density of . The bone structure of a rabbit's hind legs, which is longer than that of the fore legs, allows for quick hopping, which is beneficial for escaping predators and can provide powerful kicks if captured. Rabbits are typically Nocturnality and often sleep with their eyes open. They reproduce quickly, having short pregnancies, large litters of four to twelve kits, and no particular mating season; however, the mortality rate of rabbit embryos is high, and there exist several widespread diseases that affect rabbits, such as rabbit hemorrhagic disease and myxomatosis. In some regions, especially Australia, rabbits have caused ecological problems and are regarded as a pest.
Humans have used rabbits as livestock since at least the first century BC in ancient Rome, raising them for their meat, fur and wool. The various breeds of the European rabbit have been developed to suit each of these products; the practice of raising and breeding rabbits as livestock is known as cuniculture. Rabbits are seen in human culture globally, appearing as a symbol of fertility, cunning, and innocence in major religions, historical and contemporary art.
Coney is derived from cuniculus, a Latin term referring to rabbits which has been in use from at least the first century BCE in Hispania. The word cuniculus may originate from a diminutive form of the word for "dog" in the Celtic languages.
A group of rabbits is known as a colony, nest, or warren, though the latter term more commonly refers to where the rabbits live. A group of baby rabbits produced from a single mating is referred to as a litter and a group of domestic rabbits living together is sometimes called a herd.
A male rabbit is called a buck, as are male and deer, derived from the Old English bucca or bucc, meaning "he-goat" or "male deer", respectively. A female is called a doe, derived from the Old English dā, related to dēon ("to suck").
The extant species of family Leporidae, of which there are more than 70, are contained within 11 genus, one of which is Lepus, the hares. There are 32 extant species within Lepus. The cladogram is from Matthee et al., 2004, based on nuclear and mitochondrial gene analysis.
Lepus species are precocial, born relatively mature and mobile with hair and good vision out in the open air, while rabbit species are altricial, born hairless and blind in burrows and buried nests. Hares are also generally larger than rabbits, and have longer pregnancy. Hares and some rabbits live relatively solitary lives above the ground in open grassy areas, interacting mainly during breeding season. Some rabbit species group together to reduce their chance of being preyed upon, and the European rabbit will form large social groups in , which are grouped together to form warrens. Burrowing by hares varies by location, and is more prominent in younger members of the genus; many rabbit species that do not dig their own burrows will use the burrows of other animals. (1990). 9782831700199, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. ISBN 9782831700199
Rabbits and hares have historically not occupied the same locations, and only became sympatric relatively recently; historic accounts describe antagonistic relationships between rabbits and hares, specifically between the European hare and European rabbit or cottontail rabbits, but scientific literature since 1956 has found no evidence of aggression or undue competition between rabbits and hares. When they appear in the same habitat, rabbits and hares can co-exist on similar diets. Hares will notably force other hare species out of an area to control resources, but are not territorial. When faced with predators, hares will escape by outrunning them, whereas rabbits, being smaller and less able to reach the high speeds of longer-legged hares, will try to seek cover.
Descendants of the European rabbit are commonly bred as livestock and kept as pets, whereas no hares have been domesticated, though populations have been introduced to non-native habitats for use as a food source. The breed known as the Belgian hare is actually a domestic rabbit which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare, most likely from Flemish Giant stock originally. Common names of hare and rabbit species may also be confused; "jackrabbits" refer to hares, and the hispid hare is a rabbit.
As livestock, European rabbits are bred for their meat and Rabbit hair. The earliest breeds were important sources of meat,Julie Kimber (2025). 9780980388336, Australian Society for the Study of Labour History/Leftbank Press. . ISBN 9780980388336 and so were bred to be larger than wild rabbits at younger ages, but domestic rabbits in modern times range in size from Dwarf rabbit to giant. Rabbit fur, produced as a byproduct of meat production but occasionally selected for as in the case of the Rex rabbit, can be found in a broad range of coat colors and patterns, some of which are produced via dyeing. Some breeds are raised for their wool, such as the Angora rabbit breeds; their fur is sheared, combed or plucked, and the fibers are spun into yarn.
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 and the size of the cornea, the rabbit has a panoramic field of vision that encompasses nearly 360 degrees. However, there is a blind spot at the bridge of the nose, and because of this, rabbits cannot see what is below their mouth and rely on their lips and whiskers to determine what they are eating. Blinking occurs 2 to 4 times an hour.
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. In rabbits, the more fibers in a muscle, the more resistant to fatigue. For example, have a greater resistance to fatigue than cottontails. The muscles of rabbit's hind limbs can be classified into four main categories: , quadriceps, dorsiflexors, or plantar flexors. The quadriceps muscles are in charge of force production when jumping. Complementing these muscles are the hamstrings, which aid in short bursts of action. These muscles play off of one another in the same way as the plantar flexors and dorsiflexors, contributing to the generation and actions associated with force.
According to Allen's rule, animals adapted to colder climates have shorter, thicker limbs and appendages than those of similar animals adapted to warm climates. The rule was originally derived by comparing the ear lengths of Lepus species across the various climates of North America. Subsequent studies show that this rule remains true in the Leporidae for the ears specifically, in that the surface area of rabbits' and hares' ears are enlarged in warm climates; the ears are an important structure to aid thermoregulation as well as in detecting predators due to the way the outer, middle, and inner ear muscles coordinate with one another. The ear muscles also aid in maintaining balance and movement when fleeing predators.
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.
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 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.
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. Within the oral cavity, a layer of tissue sits over the opening of the glottis, which blocks airflow from the oral cavity to the trachea. The epiglottis functions to prevent the rabbit from aspirating on its food. Further, the presence of a soft and hard palate allow the rabbit to breathe through its nose while it feeds.
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. To provide space for the heart, the left cranial lobe of the lungs is significantly smaller than that of the right. The diaphragm is a muscular structure that lies caudal to the lungs and contracts to facilitate respiration.
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 (part of the gastrointestinal tract) and then expel the contents as , which are reingested (cecotrophy or refection). The cecotropes are then absorbed in the small intestine to use the nutrients. (2025). 9780323484350 ISBN 9780323484350 Soft cecotropes are usually consumed during periods of rest in underground burrows.
Rabbits cannot vomit; and therefore if buildup occurs within the intestines (due often to a diet with insufficient fibre), intestinal blockage can occur.
The adult female reproductive tract is Bipartite uterus, which prevents an embryo from translocating between uteri. (1974). 9780127421506 ISBN 9780127421506 The female urethra and vagina open into a urogenital sinus with a single urogenital opening. The two uterine horns communicate to two cervixes and forms one vaginal canal. Along with being bipartite, the female rabbit does not go through an Estrous cycle, which causes mating induced ovulation.
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, with some species such as those in genus Oryctolagus completely stopping reproduction at 6 years of age. During mating, the male rabbit will insert his penis into the female from behind, make rapid pelvic thrusts until ejaculation, and throw himself backward off the female. Copulation lasts only 20–40 seconds.
The rabbit gestation period is short and ranges from 27 to 30 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 1 to 12 kits, depending on species. After birth, the only role of males is to protect the young from other rabbits, and the mother will leave the young in the nest most of the day, returning to nurse them once every 24 hours. The female can become pregnant again as early as the next day.
After mating, the doe will begin to dig a burrow or prepare a nest 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. A high fertility rate is necessary to counter this. More than half of rabbit pregnancies are aborted, causing embryos to be resorbed into the mother's body; vitamin deficiencies are a major cause of abortions in domestic rabbits.
Rabbit hemorrhagic disease (RHD) is a highly infectious rabbit-specific disease caused by strains of rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus (RHDV), including type 2 (RHDV2). The disease was first described in domestic Angora rabbits imported from Germany to Jiangsu, China in 1984, and quickly spread to Korea, Italy, and the rest of Europe. The disease spread to the Americas from 1988, first appearing in rabbits imported to Mexico, but subsequent outbreaks were infrequent, as RHDV only affected the European rabbit species. RHDV2, a strain of RHD-causing virus that affects both domestic and wild lagomorphs, such as hares, was detected for the first time in France in 2010. RHDV2 has since spread to the rest of Europe, Canada, Australia, and the United States.
Rabbits survive predation by burrowing (in some species), and hopping away to dense cover. Their strong teeth allow them to bite to escape a struggle.
The longest-lived rabbit on record, a domesticated European rabbit living in Tasmania, died at age 18. The lifespan of wild rabbits is much shorter; the average longevity of an eastern cottontail, for instance, is about one to five years. The various species of rabbit have been recorded as living from four to 13 years in captivity.
Rabbits are native to North America, southwestern Europe, Southeast Asia, Sumatra, some islands of Japan, and parts of Africa and South America. They are not naturally found in most of Eurasia, where a number of species of are present. A 2003 study on domestic rabbits in China found that "(so-called) Chinese rabbits were introduced from Europe", and that "genetic diversity in Chinese rabbits was very low".
Rabbits first entered South America relatively recently, as part of the Great American Interchange. Much of the continent was considered to have just one species of rabbit, the tapeti, and most of South America's Southern Cone has had no rabbits until the introduction of the European rabbit, which has been introduced to many places around the world, in the late 19th century.
Rabbits have been launched into space orbit.
Rabbits are known to be able to catch fire and spread wildfires, particularly in Chile, where the European rabbit is an invasive species, but the efficiency and relevance of this mechanism has been doubted by forest experts who contend that a rabbit on fire could move some meters. Knowledge on fire-spreading rabbits is based on anecdotes as there is no known scientific investigation on the subject.
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 2million 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. In 1994, the countries with the highest consumption per capita of rabbit meat were Malta with , Italy with , and Cyprus with . The largest producers of rabbit meat were China, Russia, Italy (specifically Veneto), France, and Spain. FAO – The Rabbit – Husbandry, health and production. Rabbit meat was once a common commodity in Sydney, with European rabbits having been introduced intentionally to Australia for hunting purposes, 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. It is sold in farmers markets there, including the Borough Market in London. 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. In the United States, rabbits sold as food are typically the domestic New Zealand, Belgian Hare, and Chinese rabbits, or Scottish hares.
An infectious disease associated with rabbits-as-food is tularemia (also known as rabbit fever), which may be contracted from an infected rabbit. The disease can cause symptoms of fever, skin ulcers and Lymphadenopathy, and can occasionally lead to pneumonia or throat infection. Secondary vectors of tularemia include tick and fly bites, which may be present in the fur of a caught rabbit. Inhaling the bacteria during the skinning process increases the risk of getting tularemia; preventative measures against this include the use of gloves and Surgical mask. Prior to the development of , such as doxycycline and gentamicin, the death rate associated with tularemia infections was 60%, which has since decreased to less than 4%.
In addition to their meat, domestic rabbits are used for their wool and Rabbit hair for clothing, as well as their nitrogen-rich manure and their high-protein milk. Production industries have developed domesticated rabbit breeds (such as the Angora rabbit) for the purpose of meeting these needs. In 1986, the number of rabbit skins produced annually in France was as high as 70 million, compared to 25 million mink pelts produced at the same time. However, rabbit fur is on the whole a byproduct of rabbit meat production, whereas minks are bred primarily for fur production.
The rabbits' role as a prey animal with few defenses evokes vulnerability and innocence in folklore and modern children's stories, and rabbits appear as sympathetic characters, able to connect easily with youth, though this particular symbolic depiction only became popular in the 1930s following the massive popularization of the pet rabbit decades before. Additionally, they have not been limited to sympathetic depictions since then, as in literature such as Watership Down and the works of Ariel Dorfman. With its reputation as a prolific breeder, the rabbit juxtaposes sexuality with innocence, as in the Playboy Bunny. The rabbit has also been used as a symbol of playfulness and endurance, as represented by the Energizer Bunny and the Duracell Bunny.
Rabbits also appear in Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and Korean mythology, though rabbits are a relatively new introduction to some of these regions. In Chinese folklore, rabbits accompany Chang'e on the Moon, and the moon rabbit is a prominent symbol in the Mid-Autumn Festival. In the Chinese New Year, the zodiacal rabbit or hare is one of the twelve celestial animals in the Chinese zodiac. At the time of the zodiacal cycles becoming associated with animals in the Han dynasty,Ferlus, Michel (2013). The sexagesimal cycle, from China to Southeast Asia. 23rd Annual Conference of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, May 2013, Bangkok, Thailand. only hares were native to China, with the currently extant breeds of rabbit in China being of European origin. 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. 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 some images, this rabbit is said to be creating a potion of immortality. In Korean mythology, as in Japanese, rabbits live on the moon making rice cakes ("tteok" in Korean).
Rabbits have also appeared in religious symbolism. 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 the Holy Trinity. The tripartite symbol also appears in heraldry.Fox-Davies, A.C. (1978) A Complete Guide to Heraldry (New York: Bonanza Books) p. 214. ; . In Jewish folklore, rabbits are associated with cowardice, a usage still current in contemporary Israeli spoken Hebrew language. The original Hebrew word (shfanim, שפנים) refers to the hyrax, but early translations to English interpreted the word to mean "rabbit", as no hyraxes were known to northern Europe. In Greek mythology and Roman mythology, rabbits were associated with the hunting goddesses Artemis and Diana. Ancient Greek hunters were instructed to not hunt newborn rabbits, and to leave them "for the goddess". The constellation Lepus is named for the rabbit, and was given its name by Ptolemy .
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.
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, largely due to the popularity of Bugs Bunny, whose carrot eating habit was modeled after Peter Warne, the character played by Clark Gable in the 1934 romantic comedy It Happened One Night.
As food and clothing
Humans have hunted rabbits for food since at least the onset of the Last Glacial Maximum, (2025). 9783031343353, Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783031343353 and wild rabbits and hares are still hunted for their meat as game. Hunting is accomplished with the aid of trained falconry, ferrets, or Hunting dogs (a common hunting breed being ), as well as with snares, rifles and other guns. A caught rabbit may be dispatched with a sharp blow to the back of its head, a practice from which the term rabbit punch is derived.
(2025). 9781455748013, Churchill Livingstone. ISBN 9781455748013
In culture
Rabbits are often posited by scholars as symbols of fertility, Human sexuality and spring, though they have been variously interpreted throughout history. Up until the end of the 18th century, it was widely believed that rabbits and hares were , contributing to a possible view of rabbits as "sexually aberrant". The Easter Bunny is a figure from German folklore that then spread to America and later other parts of the world and is similar to Santa Claus, albeit both with softened roles compared to earlier incarnations of the figures.
Folklore and mythology
The rabbit often appears in folklore as the trickster archetype, as he uses his cunning to outwit his enemies. In Central Africa, the common hare ( Kalulu) is described as a trickster figure,Brian Morris, The Power of Animals: An Ethnography, p. 177 (2000). and 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. Rabbits in the Americas varied in mythological symbolism: in Aztec mythology, they were also associated with the moon, and 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. More broadly, 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 . (2004). 9780813122892, University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 9780813122892
Modern times
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.
(2025). 9781498513753, Lexington Books. ISBN 9781498513753 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. This has led to some owners of domestic rabbits feeding a carrot heavy diet on this false perception.
See also
Notes
Citations
Sources used
(2025). 9783030340421, Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783030340421
(2025). 9783030340421, Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783030340421
(2025). 9781617319372, Morton. ISBN 9781617319372
(2025). 9780702049798 ISBN 9780702049798
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