Lepus
| Hares | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Lagomorpha |
| Family: | Leporidae |
| Genus: |
Lepus Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Type species | |
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Lepus timidus Linnaeus, 1758 |
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| Species | |
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See text |
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See text
Hares and jackrabbits are leporids belonging to the genus Lepus. Hares are classified into the same family as rabbits. They are similar in size and form to rabbits and eat the same diet. They are generally herbivorous and long-eared, they are fast runners, and they typically live solitarily or in pairs. Hare species are native to Africa, Eurasia, North America, and the Japanese archipelago.
Five leporid species with "hare" in their common names are not considered true hares: the hispid hare (Caprolagus hispidus), and four species known as red rock hares (comprising Pronolagus). Meanwhile, jackrabbits are hares rather than rabbits.
A hare less than one year old is called a leveret. The collective noun for a group of hares is a "drove".
Hares are swift animals: The European hare (Lepus europaeus) can run up to 56 km/h (35 mph). The five species of jackrabbits found in central and western North America are able to run at 64 km/h (40 mph), and can leap up to 3 m (10 ft) at a time.
Normally a shy animal, the European brown hare changes its behavior in spring, when hares can be seen in daytime chasing one another; this appears to be competition between males to attain dominance (and hence more access to breeding females). During this spring frenzy, hares can be seen "boxing", one hare striking another with its paws (probably the origin of the term "mad as a March hare"). For a long time, this had been thought to be only intermale competition, but closer observation has revealed it can also be a female hitting a male to prevent copulation.
Hares do not bear their young below ground in a burrow as do other leporids, but rather in a shallow depression or flattened nest of grass called a form. Young hares are adapted to the lack of physical protection, relative to that afforded by a burrow, by being born fully furred and with eyes open. They are hence precocial, and are able to fend for themselves soon after birth. By contrast, the related rabbits and cottontail rabbits are altricial, having young that are born blind and hairless.
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Wikipedia