14 ANATOMY OF THE RABBIT. 
ZOOLOGICAL POSITION. 
It will be evident from the foregoing statement that every 
specialized animal possesses in its organization a vast assemblage 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. The 
study of an animal as a type or representative of a group, however, 
concerns only in a general way the features common to its various 
members, 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. The 
question of what an animal is actually representative is a matter 
of comparison with other forms, in other words, of its zoological 
position. This isexpressed through the medium of classification, 
the latter being arranged to indicate, so far as is possible, the relation- 
ships of organisms to one 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-colored forms, long-haired Angoras, Lop- 
Ear Rabbits, and Belgian ‘‘Hares’’ are more familiar. They are 
all descendants of the wild rabbit (Oryctelagus cuniculus, Lepvs 
cuniculus) of Europe. The !atter 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 family Leporidae contains a large number of closely 
related species formerly included in the single genus Lepus. They 
are variously known as hares and rabbits, but the latter designation 
is considered to apply more exactly to the European rabbit and 
its domesticated races, the others, with one or two exceptions, 
being more properly described as hares. The more familiar species 
