AMERICAN RABBITS 
225 
logical characters of its members, into two groups, viz., the 
Caprolagus and Lepus groups. The first of these, which is of 
particular interest, contains the four genera Caprolagus, Neso- 
lagus, Oryctolagus and Sylvilagus. Caprolagus lives in Asia, 
and is likewise represented in European Pliocene beds. The 
second is peculiar to the island of Sumatra. The third, which 
includes the European rabbit, has an extremely discontinuous 
range, being confined, according to Dr. Major, to the Mediter¬ 
ranean Region, Western Europe and South Africa. Sylvi¬ 
lagus is peculiar to America. From its very scattered range 
the Caprolagus group of hares and rabbits would seem to 
be of ancient lineage. In a more recent study of the hares and 
their allies, Dr. Lyon recognised nine genera of this group. 
He separates the South African form of rabbit from the 
European, raises several of Dr. Forsyth Major’s sub-genera 
to the rank of genera, and adds the new genus Pentalagus 
from the Liu Kiu islands near Japan. Whereas Dr. Forsyth 
Major recognised four sub-genera of the American Sylvi¬ 
lagus, Dr. Lyon places only two sub-genera under this genus. 
Although Dr. Lyon gives a fuller and more complete 
account of all parts of the skeleton in the different species of 
Leporidae than Dr. Forsyth Major. He was moreover able to 
detect certain prominent structural characters, which appar¬ 
ently escaped Dr. Major’s notice. While the latter believed 
in the close relationship of the European and the Cape rabbits, 
Dr. Lyon * demonstrates that the nearest relation of the 
former is the American Sylvilagus. The skulls of the two 
genera, taken as a whole, are not markedly different, and the 
teeth are essentially alike. 
The European rabbit also possesses marked affinities with 
Limnolagus, another American genus of rabbits, but not with 
any of the Old World genera of the family. The genus 
Oryctolagus, with its single species the European rabbit 
(0. cuniculus) is confined to the countries round the Medi¬ 
terranean. Only in France, that is to say, in western Europe, 
is there a tendency to a northward extension of this range, 
and in that it resembles a great many other typically Medi ¬ 
terranean animals. Its relation, Sylvilagus, ranges from the 
* Lyon, M. W., “ The Hares and their Allies,” p. 406. 
L.A. 
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