THE ORDER LAGOMORPHA
Lagomorpha – Hare-Like Mammals (About 45 species.)
Who is not familiar with rabbits and hares? They have been among the first mammals we learn about in childhood since the time of Aesop, and the race between the tortoise and the hare. Together with the pikas, they form a small but distinct order known as Lagomorpha.
The lagomorphs are strictly ground-dwelling and inhabit all continents, except Antarctica. They were introduced by men with dire consequences into Australia and New Zealand because they breed rapidly and had no natural predators on those island nations.
There is not an extreme variation among the lagomorph species. All are about the size of domestic cats and have short tails. Pikas have short round ears, while hares and rabbits obviously have long narrow ears. And thus the reason that the antenna that sits atop a TV set is often called “rabbit ears.”
Similar to rodents, to which lagomorphs are NOT closely related, they do have ever-growing incisors. They also have a large gap behind the incisors. All are herbivorous. Pikas, fourteen species in all, live in colonies among rocks, often in cold, mountainous regions, and they are active during the daylight hours when they can see a predator approach.
The forty species of hares and rabbits generally inhabit grassy areas, where they forage at dawn and dusk. They live in burrows, where the young are born.
Check out the following specific lagomorphs including:
Pika
Volcano Rabbit
Cottontail
Snowshoe Hare
Arctic Hare
Jackrabbit
Brown Hare
Old World Rabbit
