Sylvilagus

Cottontail rabbits comprise the genus Sylvilagus, which is in the family Leporidae. They are found in the Americas. Most Sylvilagus species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characteristic name, but this feature is not present in all Sylvilagus species, nor is it unique to the genus. Their fur ranges from brown to gray and changes throughout the year, depending on the season.

Sylvilagus

Becky Matsubara from El Sobrante, California · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Also called
cottontail rabbitPBDB
Sits inside
LeporidaePBDB
Diet
grazer, browserPBDB, for Leporidae
Life habit
ground dwellingPBDB, for Leporidae
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes
Environment
terrestrialPBDB, for Eutheria

Time the record covers

At least 1.7 million years on record.

The record covers at least 1.8 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 4.7 Mya to 0 Mya.

Pliocene — about 21 of 304 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 241 of 304 occurrencesPleistoceneHolocene — about 42 of 304 occurrences4.9–4.7 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences4.7–4.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.5–4.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.3–4.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.2–4.0 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.0–3.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.8–3.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.6–3.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.5–3.3 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.3–3.1 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.1–2.9 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.9–2.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.8–2.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences2.6–2.4 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.4–2.3 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.3–2.1 Mya — about 3 occurrences2.1–1.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.9–1.7 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.7–1.6 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.6–1.4 Mya — about 4 occurrences1.4–1.2 Mya — about 14 occurrences1.2–1.0 Mya — about 14 occurrences1.0–867 ka Mya — about 14 occurrences867 ka–693 ka Mya — about 15 occurrences693 ka–520 ka Mya — about 15 occurrences520 ka–347 ka Mya — about 15 occurrences347 ka–173 ka Mya — about 15 occurrences173 ka–0 Mya — about 158 occurrences1.8 Mya11.7 ka5.2 Mya0 Mya

304 occurrences of Sylvilagus on record, most of them in the Pleistocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

304 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

30 formations

Palm Spring — 32.90°N, 117.10°W"unnamed sandstone" — 33.90°N, 117.00°WKingsdown — 37.04°N, 100.50°WKingsdown — 37.20°N, 100.30°WPauba — 33.90°N, 117.00°WSt. David — 32.00°N, 110.20°WSan Timoteo — 33.90°N, 117.00°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.60°N, 117.80°WPalos Verdes Sand — 34.00°N, 118.20°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.76°N, 118.29°WTamiami — 27.37°N, 82.45°WTamiami — 27.30°N, 80.80°WSeymour — 33.80°N, 99.70°WSeymour — 33.75°N, 99.50°WGood Creek — 34.00°N, 99.80°WBermont — 27.70°N, 82.50°WWicomico — 29.60°N, 82.42°WWicomico — 29.42°N, 82.22°WGila Conglomerate — 32.58°N, 109.48°WTulare — 35.30°N, 118.50°WSappa — 41.20°N, 96.60°WTacubaya — 21.80°N, 102.30°WCrooked Creek — 37.20°N, 100.30°WCaloosahatchee — 27.04°N, 81.82°WLa Habra — 33.60°N, 117.80°WAlamosa — 37.37°N, 105.75°WFort Thompson — 27.80°N, 82.80°WTule — 34.51°N, 101.41°WAmerican Falls Lake Bed E — 42.80°N, 112.90°WSan Pedro — 33.75°N, 118.28°W

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The named rock units Sylvilagus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 6 further formations hold fewer occurrences each and are not listed. 210 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Sylvilagus and its relatives

Pleistocene

Where Sylvilagus and its relatives were recorded in the Pleistocene.

Found in the same rock

1,785 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 264 sites for Sylvilagus, and this reads 240 of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

134 references

Each of the 304 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 122 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content3

Picture of Sylvilagus

Credit
Becky Matsubara from El Sobrante, California
Licence
CC BY 2.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
not stated by the source
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Sylvilagus sp. · nml:1980.354

3D model

Source
Sketchfab
Licence
CC Attribution
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record

Smithsonian Open Access was not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itLeporidae through timeFormations of the PleistoceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Gray 1867