Lepus californicus (Gray, 1837) 



Black-tailed Jackxabbit 



Lagomorpha: Leporidae 



Global Rank: G5; State Rank: S2S3 



DESCRIPTION: The Black-tailed Jackrabbit is a large (1 ,300-3,300 grams), slender hare with long legs 

 and ears. The tail has a black dorsal surface that may continue as a line onto the lower back, distinguishing 

 it from the larger White-tailed Jackrabbit (L. townsendii) which has a white tail. The upper parts may 

 range from brown to dark gray; the belly and underside of tail are usually a pale gray. The ears are edged 

 and sometimes tipped with black. Unlike the Snowshoe Hare and White-tailed Jackrabbit, Black-tailed 

 Jackrabbits molt only once annually and do not take on a white winter coat. The interparietal bone is ftised 

 with the parietals, distinguishing the skulls of hares from the cottontails (Sylvilagus) and Pygmy Rabbit 

 (Brachylagus idahoensis). Presence of an anterior projection of the supraorbital process differentiates the 

 skull of the two jackrabbit species from the congeneric Snowshoe Hare (L. americanus). The first upper 

 incisors have a bi- or triflircate groove resulting in a complex fold on the anterior surface; L townsendii has 

 a simple groove on the anterior surface of the first upper incisors. 



DISTRIBUTION: The Black-tailed Jackrabbit is widespread in the western and central United States, from 

 westem Missouri and Arkansas west to the Pacific Coast, and from Washington and Idaho south to Hidalgo 

 and Queretaro in central Mexico. In Montana the Black-tailed Jackrabbit has been documented only in 

 Beaverhead ( 1 1 locations) and extreme westem Madison (2 locations) counties, with only two reports from 

 the Centennial Valley (one from 1999 during this study). 



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