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. Q 



