14 Anatomy gf the Rabbit. 



ZOOLOGICAL POSITION. 



It will be evident from the foregoing statement that every 

 speciaHzed 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 m.atter 

 of comparison with other forms, in other words, of its zoological 

 position. This is expressed througfi 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 m.ay be found 

 useful; and it may also be considered as' illustrating, through the 

 comparison of this animal v/ith 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 [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 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 



