24 

 THE RABBIT 



The rabbit, Oryctolagus cunicidiis {=Lepus cunicitliis) , is one 

 of the animals that have been introduced into Britain by man. 

 Its original home was in the countries at the western end of the 

 Mediterranean. Thence it has spread or been carried by man 

 throughout most of Europe and into various other parts of the 

 world, where its adaptability and great fertility have enabled 

 it to thrive to such an extent that often, as notably in Australia, 

 it has become a serious nuisance. Its habits are well known. 

 It is herbivorous, and eats a great variety of plants, feeding mainly 

 in early morning and late afternoon. It is gregarious, and digs 

 for itself burrows into which it retires to sleep or at the approach 

 of danger and to rear its young. It is readily domesticated, and 

 various fancy races have been produced by breeders. 



The rabbit is studied as an example of the vertebrates, and 

 also of the class Mammalia. Much of the description which follows 

 will apply to the rat or guinea pig, which are other mammals 

 commonly dissected, some to the frog and bird, which agree with 

 the mammals in being tetrapods, i.e. vertebrates with four limbs 

 built on the pentadactyl plan (p. 418), and a little to the dogfish, 

 which shows the fundamental vertebrate plan very clearly but 

 differs widely from the mammals in the disposition and structure 

 of the parts. 



EXTERNAL FEATURES 



The rabbit is covered with fur, which in the wild race is usually 

 of an inconspicuous, tawny-grey colour known as agouti ; the 

 under side of the short, upright tail is white. Black, sandy and 

 other colour varieties are common. The head is separated from 

 the trunk by a distinct neck, and the long external earflaps or 

 pinnae are conspicuous. The eyes have movable upper and lower 

 lids with a few eyelashes, and a small third eyelid lies as a white 

 membrane in the inner corner and is used in cleaning the cornea. 

 This eyelid is rudimentary in man. The nostrils are two oblique 

 slits at the end of the snout, and lead internally into the phar^^nx. 

 The upper lip is a ' hare lip ', cleft in the middle, the cleft being 

 continuous with the nostrils and exposing the great front teeth. 



417 



