the most known representatives from the family of the hares is our field-hare and the rabbit. With 44 types, the hare-clan is widespread over almost the whole world.
Spread The snow-hare lives in the polar areas of the northern hemisphere and in some retreat-areas (Alps) of Europe. The cape-hare (field-hare) is widespread far over Asia and Africa and lives in steppes and desert-areas here. The swamp-rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris), a type of this far of north, and South America spread cotton-tail-rabbits (type Sylvilagus), finally is to the swamp, and water-inhabitants become.
Shape All hares of quite uniform shape are despite the different way of life and the different habitats. All resemble this more or less it us known hare-shapes field-hare and rabbits. Some types are each other so similarly that they are to be distinguished only heavily straight away. With other hares, Z. B. the Ethiopian highland-hare or the Siam - and the Sindhasen, the experts don't agree whether these have the position of an independent type or only as subtypes of cape - as well as. Black-neck-hare (Lepus nigricollis), to be well received, is.
The smallest hare-type is the dwarf-rabbit heavy only 400 g from the western North America. Up to 7 kg heavy becomes the biggest representatives of the family, however. The big-ear-y, North American donkey-hares, whose biggest type the antelope-hare (Lepus alleni) is, belong to them.
Only it see somewhat unusually quilt - and squander-living in Tibetan wool-hare (Lepus oiostolus), who possesses a long, fleecy and waved hair-dress, and the colorful, brown-striped Sumatra-rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri) from.
Way of life All hares are herbivores, that however possibly its menu with meat-food (mice) also now and then?) supplement. Most types are twilight and night-animals. There is as well as individually living (field-hare) also like sociable types (rabbits).
Further types North America's remained prairie-areas, but also other grasslands as far as in the mountain-meadows up, the weißschwänzige prairie-hare populates. it gets in the north of its spread-area, as its cousin snow-hare, snowshoe-hare and Japanese hare (Lepus brachyurus), a white winter-fur.
Only in Mexico, an uncommon representative of the hare-sex, the volcano-rabbit, lives.
Some African and Asian hares are little known: The colorful bush-man-hare (Bunolagus monticularis) and the short-ear-y bush-rabbit or the Uganda-grass-hare (Poelagus majorita) live south probably only in small areas - as well as. Central-Africa. However, the red or wool-tail-hares are widespread over wide parts of South Africa. Original representatives of the hares are the bristle-rabbit and the similar short-ear-y Riu-Kiu-Kaninchen (Pentalagus furnessi) from Eastern Asia. Further hardly known types from the type Lepus is the Chinese hare (Lepus sinensis) and the Manchurian hare (Lepus mandshuricus).
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