€ ANATOMY OF THE RABBIT 



of features which, If referred to their proper categories, are found 

 to represent many grades of morphological value. In so far as the 

 adult structure of a particular form is concerned, it is possible to 

 consider them anatomically without discrimination; but, on the 

 other hand, if they are to be explained, it is necessary to proceed on 

 a basis of function, embryonic development, or evolution or, ulti- 

 mately, of all three. The study of an animal as a type or repre- 

 sentative of a group, however, concerns only in part the features 

 common to the various members of the latter, since the majority 

 of features present in any animal are of minor importance, and as 

 such are significant chiefly as indicating the developments which 

 may take place inside the group. What an animal actually repre- 

 sents is determined by comparison with other forms and is called 

 its zoological position. This is expressed through the medium of 

 classification, the latter being arranged to indicate, so far as is 

 possible, the relationships of organisms one to another. In this 

 connection the following statement of the zoological position of the 

 rabbit may be found useful; and it may also be considered as 

 illustrating, through the comparison of this animal with allied 

 forms, some of the more general characters of animals as outlined 

 above. 



The domestic rabbit is represented by several races, of which 

 the common variously-coloured forms, long-haired Angoras, Lop- 

 €ar Rabbits, and Belgian "Hares" are more familiar. They are 

 all descendants of the wild rabbit {Oryctolagus cuniculus, Lepus 

 cuniculus) of Europe. The latter is thought to have belonged 

 originally to the countries bordering the western portion of the 

 Mediterranean, but its distribution has been greatly extended 

 northward and to other continents through human agency. 



The European common raihhit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) belongs 

 to the family Leporidae, which contains a large number of closely 

 related species formerly included under the single genus Lepus, 

 but now distributed among nine genera with living representatives 

 and a larger number of extinct ones. In addition to Oryctolagus 

 cuniculus and its derivatives, the more familiar species are the 

 European Common Hare (Lepus europaeus) and in North America, 

 the Cotton-tail Rabbit (Sylvilagus floridanus), the Northern or 

 Varying Hare (Lepus americanus) , and the Prairie Hare or White- 



