Animalia > Chordata > Mammalia > Lagomorpha > Leporidae > Oryctolagus > Oryctolagus cuniculus

Oryctolagus cuniculus (European Rabbit)

Synonyms: Oryctogalus fodiens; Oryctolagus cnossius; Oryctolagus cuniculus borkumensis

Wikipedia Abstract

The European rabbit or common rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a species of rabbit native to southwestern Europe (Spain and Portugal) and northwest Africa (Morocco and Algeria). It has been widely introduced elsewhere, often with devastating effects on local biodiversity. However, its decline in its native range (caused by the diseases myxomatosis and rabbit calicivirus, as well as overhunting and habitat loss), has caused the decline of its highly dependent predators, the Iberian lynx and the Spanish imperial eagle. It is known as an invasive species because it has been introduced to countries on all continents with the exception of Antarctica and sub-Saharan Africa, and caused many problems within the environment and ecosystems. Australia has the most problems with European rabbits, due
View Wikipedia Record: Oryctolagus cuniculus

Infraspecies

Endangered Species

Status: Endangered
View IUCN Record: Oryctolagus cuniculus

Invasive Species

View ISSG Record: Oryctolagus cuniculus

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
12
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
49
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 24.06
EDGE Score: 3.91

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  3.968 lbs (1.80 kg)
Birth Weight [1]  45 grams
Male Weight [3]  6.367 lbs (2.888 kg)
Diet [2]  Herbivore
Diet - Plants [2]  100 %
Forages - Ground [2]  100 %
Female Maturity [1]  2 years
Gestation [1]  30 days
Litter Size [1]  5
Litters / Year [1]  4
Maximum Longevity [1]  9 years
Nocturnal [4]  Yes
Snout to Vent Length [3]  18 inches (45 cm)
Weaning [1]  26 days

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

+ Click for partial list (100)Full list (103)

Biodiversity Hotspots

Name Location Endemic Species Website
Mediterranean Basin Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Portugal, Spain, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey No

Prey / Diet

Chamaerops humilis (European fan palm)[5]
Corema album[6]
Elaphomyces granulatus (False Truffle)[7]
Metrosideros excelsa[7]
Veronica elliptica (Francisco hebe)[7]

Prey / Diet Overlap

Competing SpeciesCommon Prey Count
Cervus elaphus (wapiti or elk)1
Larus cachinnans (Yellow-legged Gull)1
Meles meles (European Badger)1
Turdus merula (Eurasian Blackbird)1

Predators

Consumers

Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
1de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
2Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
3Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
4Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
5Dangerous liaisons disperse the Mediterranean dwarf palm: fleshy-pulp defensive role against seed predators, José M. Fedriani and Miguel Delibes, Ecology, 92(2), 2011, pp. 304–315
6Spatial patterns of seed dispersal and seedling recruitment in Corema album (Empetraceae): the importance of unspecialized dispersers for regeneration, MARÍA CALVIÑO-CANCELA, Journal of Ecology 2002: 90, 775–784
7Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
8del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
9Breeding Biology and Diet of the Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax in the New England Region of New South Wales, S.J.S. DEBUS, T.S. HATFIELD, A.J. LEY and A.B. ROSE, AUSTRALIAN FIELD ORNITHOLOGY 2007, 24, 93–120
10Moleon, Marcos, et al. "Predator-prey relationships in a Mediterranean vertebrate system: Bonelli's eagles, rabbits and partridges." Oecologia 168.3 (2012): 679+. Academic OneFile. Web. 15 July 2014.
11Predation upon small mammals in shrublands and grasslands of southern South America: ecological correlates and presumable consequences, Fabian M. Jaksic, Revista Chilena de Historia Natural 59: 209-221 (1986)
129.1 Dingo, Canis lupus dingo, L.K. Corbett, Sillero-Zubiri, C., Hoffmann, M. and Macdonald, D.W. (eds). 2004. Canids: Foxes, Wolves, Jackals and Dogs. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Canid Specialist Group. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. x + 430 pp.
13Food habits of the Crested Caracara (Caracara plancus) in the Andean Patagonia: the role of breeding constraints, A. Travaini, J. A. Donázar, O. Ceballos & F. Hiraldo, Journal of Arid Environments (2001) 48: 211–219
14THE DIET OF THE AUSTRALASIAN HARRIER (Circus approximans) IN THE MANAWATU-RANGITIKEI SAND COUNTRY, NEW ZEALAND, D. J. BAKER-GABB, Notornis 28: 241-254 (1981)
15Species Interactions of Australia Database, Atlas of Living Australia, Version ala-csv-2012-11-19
16Galictis cuja, Eric Yensen and Teresa Tarifa, MAMMALIAN SPECIES No. 728, pp. 1–8 (2003)
17Assessing the diet of nestling Bearded Vultures: a comparison between direct observation methods, Antoni Margalida, Joan Bertran, and Jennifer Boudet, J. Field Ornithol. 76(1):40–45, 2005
18Body size, diet and reproductive ecology of Coluber hippocrepis in the Rif (Northern Morocco), Juan M. Pleguezuelos, Soumia Fahd, Amphibia-Reptilia 25: 287-302 (2004)
19Olsen, J., Judge, D., Fuentes, E., Rose, AB and Debus, S. (2010). Diets of Wedge-tailed Eagles (Aquila audax) and Little Eagles (Hieraaetus morphnoides) breeding near Canberra, Australia Journal of Raptor Research 44: 50–61
20FOOD OF THE BOOTED EAGLE (HIERAAETUS PENNATUS) IN CENTRAL SPAIN, José P. Veiga, RAPTOR RESEARCH VOL. 20 (3/4): 120-123
21Changes in the diet of Great Black-backed Gulls Larus marinus on Skomer Island 1958- 1992, Jim Poole, SEABIRD 17; 50-55
22POPULATION STATUS AND DIET OF THE YELLOW-LEGGED GULL IN THE AZORES, VERÓNICA C. NEVES, NADIA MURDOCH & ROBERT W. FURNESS, ARQUIPÉLAGO. Ciências Biológicas e Marinhas Nº 23A (2006): 59-73
23DIET AND ACTIVITY PATTERNS OF LEOPARDUS GUIGNA IN RELATION TO PREY AVAILABILITY IN FOREST FRAGMENTS OF THE CHILEAN TEMPERATE RAINFOREST, Stephania Eugenia Galuppo Gaete, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, Masters thesis, September 2014
24Feeding Ecology of the Spanish Lynx in the Coto Doñana, Miguel Delibes, ACTA THERIOLOGICA Vol. 25, 24: 309-324, 1980
25Feeding Habits of the Diamond Python, Morelia s. spilota: Ambush Predation by a Boid Snake, David J. Slip and Richard Shine, Journal of Herpetology, Vol. 22, No. 3, pp. 323-330, 1988
26Conservation status and limiting factors in the endangered population of Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) in the Canary Islands, José A. Donázar, César J. Palacios, Laura Gangoso, Olga Ceballos, María J. González and Fernando Hiraldo, Biological Conservation 107 (2002) 89–97
27Diet of the Lace Monitor Lizard (Varanus varius) in south-eastern Australia, Brian W. Weavers, Australian Zoologist, Vol. 25(3) 83-85
28Correlates between morphology, diet and foraging mode in the Ladder Snake Rhinechis scalaris (Schinz, 1822), Juan M. Pleguezuelos , Juan R. Fernández-Cardenete , Santiago Honrubia , Mónica Feriche , Carmen Villafranca, Contributions to Zoology, 76 (3) – 2007
29Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
30International Flea Database
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0