European rabbit

Oryctolagus cuniculus · The European rabbit is a burrowing, grass-eating rabbit native to the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France.

Also called Coney, Old World Rabbit.

European rabbit
Photo: Alexis Lours, CC BY 4.0
European rabbit
Photo: Alexis Lours, CC BY 2.0
European rabbit
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderLagomorpha
FamilyLeporidae
GenusOryctolagus
SpeciesOryctolagus cuniculus

Where it lives

Native to Spain, Portugal and northwest Africa; introduced across Europe and Australia.

Fun facts

  • Baby European rabbits are born blind, deaf and nearly naked.
  • A mother rabbit nurses her kittens only once a night, for just a few minutes, then seals the nest entrance with soil and vegetation.
  • A rabbit's skeleton is so light that it makes up only about 8% of its body weight, compared with 13% in a domestic cat.
  • Rabbits eat special soft droppings called caecotropes to get more nutrition from their food.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).