| Bunyoro rabbit | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Pakwach, Uganda | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Lagomorpha |
| Family: | Leporidae |
| Genus: | Poelagus St. Leger, 1932 |
| Species: | P. marjorita |
| Binomial name | |
| Poelagus marjorita (St. Leger, 1929) | |
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| Bunyoro rabbit range Extant (resident) Presence uncertain | |
| Synonyms | |
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TheBunyoro rabbit orUganda grass hare (Poelagus marjorita) is aspecies ofmammal in the familyLeporidae. It is theonly member of thegenusPoelagus. It is a medium-sized (400 to 605 millimetres (15.7 to 23.8 in) long), greyish-brown furred,nocturnal, plant-eatingrabbit found incentral Africa. Its typical habitat is dampsavannah, often with rocky outcrops, but it also appears in forests and in rocky areas alongsiderock hyraxes.
First described by British mammalogist Jane St. Leger in 1929 as a member of thehares, the Bunyoro rabbit was placed within its own genus in 1932 after specimens were examined in detail with relation to other leporids. Two subspecies from what is nowSouth Sudan were described in the following decades, but neither is recognized today. The Bunyoro rabbit's genetic relationships have been variously described; most place it as closely related to thered rock hares (Pronolagus) and thestriped rabbits (Nesolagus), but at least one study describes it as asister group of theriverine rabbit (Bunolagus). While the Bunyoro rabbit was once considered abundant, and it is classified by theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as aleast-concern species, sightings have been infrequent, and itsdistribution is much more limited than early estimations.
The Bunyoro rabbit was first properly described in 1929 asLepus marjorita or the "grass hare"[2] by Jane St. Leger,[3] a Britishmammalogist who worked withOldfield Thomas.[4][5] Four years earlier, it was misidentified byGeoffrey Douglas Hale Carpenter,[6] who discovered a colony of the species and assumed them to be the feral descendants ofEuropean rabbits introduced to the region byEmin Pasha.[7] The original description of the rabbit was from a specimen that was part of a collection of mammals sent to theBritish Museum from theProtectorate of Uganda byCharles Pitman, thegame warden. Thetype locality of the original specimen is "NearMasindi, Bunyoro, Uganda" at an elevation of 4,000 feet (1,200 m). This species was described as "common on the roads at night", "strongly resembl[ing] the IndianCaprolagus", and of "unusually crisp fur" and "short ears".[3] After receiving and reviewing additional specimens, and noting the species' skeletal characteristics, which resembled those of species in multiple genera—Lepus,Oryctolagus,Sylvilagus, andPronolagus—St. Leger described the Bunyoro rabbit as belonging to a new monotypic[8] genus,Poëlagus, in 1932.[9][10] The name was later corrected toPoelagus, removing thediaeresis.[11] Of the known leporids of Africa,Poelagus has been the most recent described.[6]
The Bunyoro rabbit is named after itstype locality, part of theBunyoro kingdom.[3] The common name "Uganda grass hare"[12] referencesCenchrus purpureus, a native species of plant known as Uganda grass, among other names.[13] Thegeneric name,Poelagus, references the epithet "grass hare", using the Greekpóa (πόα), "grass", andlagós (λαγός), "hare".[10][14] Thespecific name,marjorita, is named for Marjorie Pitman, Charles Pitman's wife.[3]
There were two proposedsubspecies ofPoelagus marjorita, but neither is recognized and both are treated assynonyms of the species.[11] Both of the proposed subspecies were described from what is now South Sudan, and displayed small differences in fur colour and skull morphology.[1][9]
The Bunyoro rabbit's closestphylogenetic relations appear to be with thered rock hares (Pronolagus).Poelagus andPronolagus were once thought to becongeneric, but are now considered part of aclade withNesolagus. These genera likely arose from an ancestral leporid arriving from Asia and spreading to various parts of Africa during the middleMiocene, with a specificvicariance event that separatedNesolagus from the other African leporids occurring11.3 ± 1.53 million years ago.[15] However, a 2022 study of the phylogenetic relationships between mammals usingultraconserved elements in museum specimens found only distant relationships betweenPoelagus,Pronolagus andNesolagus, and placed theriverine rabbit (Bunolagus) as the Bunyoro rabbit'ssister clade.[16] Nofossils ofPoelagus are known.[17]
The phylogenetic relationships between the African leporids are described by the followingcladogram, derived from work by Matthee et al., 2004.[15] These relationships are supported by later analysis by Iraçabal et al., 2024:[18]
| Phylogeny of African lagomorphs and related taxa[15] |
| External image | |
|---|---|
 Photograph of a Bunyoro rabbit in Nwoya, Uganda |
Poelagus marjorita has a head and body length of about 400 to 605 millimetres (15.7 to 23.8 in) and a weight of 2.26 to 3.17 kilograms (5.0 to 7.0 lb).[12] Both the hind legs and ears are shorter than in other African species, and the coat is coarser. The general body colour is greyish-brown and the tail is yellowish above and white beneath.[19] From the chest to the lower abdomen, a white stripe is visible that widens as it progresses downwards towards the hind limbs. Fur under the body, chin and throat is white, the soles of the feet are covered in whitish to grey fur, and the ear colour is similar to that of the rabbit's back.Rufous fur can be seen on thenuchal patch between the ears down to the base of the neck. The tail size ranges from 38 to 70 millimetres (1.5 to 2.8 in), the hind foot from 65 to 108 millimetres (2.6 to 4.3 in), and the ears from 61 to 70 millimetres (2.4 to 2.8 in).[12]
The Bunyoro rabbit has morphological features that resemble both rabbits and hares.[12] In regions whereP. marjorita is present alongside otherleporids, such as theAfrican savannah hare (Lepus victoriae) and theCape hare (Lepus capensis), the rabbit can be distinguished by the length of its ears, which are always shorter than the hind feet.[6][20] Referring to the Bunyoro rabbit's skeletalmorphology, itshard palate is longer than that ofsympatric hares, even at the minimum length, and thezygomatic bone has external projections on theanterior side. The principal upperincisors have a single groove and lackcement.[12]
The Bunyoro rabbit is native to Central Africa. Its range was once thought to extend from southernChad andSouth Sudan to northeasternDemocratic Republic of the Congo and westernKenya as far south as the northern end ofLake Tanganyika, with a separate population inAngola.[19] However, later reviews of the known records and specimens determined that the species has adisjunct distribution, with four isolated populations that occur inUganda, South Sudan, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and easternCentral African Republic.[9] Several museum specimens were collected nearGabela, Angola in 1941, but their identity requires further verification to confirm if the rabbit is truly endemic there.[21]
It occurs in various habitats: stony outcrops, woodlandsavannah, and hilly regions with short grasses. They may also reside in the forests of South Sudan.[22] It may be found alongside trees in the genusIsoberlinia, and is often associated withrock hyraxes, sometimes sharing the same rock crevices.[19]
The Bunyoro rabbit isnocturnal, hiding alone during the day in a form (a shallow depression in the ground) among dense vegetation or a hole among rocks, and coming out to feed as part of a group at night. Its diet consists of grasses and flowering plants. It prefers the succulent young shoots that sprout from the ground after land has been cleared or burned, and tends towardspastures that are alreadygrazed by larger mammals.[12] When living in proximity to cultivated land, it feeds onrice andpeanut plants.Predators that feed on the Bunyoro rabbit probably includehawks,owls,servals,cape genets andservaline genets.[19] In regions where its range overlaps with that of hares, there is no physical aggression or otherwise antagonistic behaviour between rabbit and hare species.[23]
Breeding seems to occur at any time of year, as indicated by records of newborn and juvenile rabbits in January, February, March, May, June, August, and October. The young arealtricial, and are born covered by sparse, short hairs.[12] Thegestation period is about five weeks and one or two young are born in a breeding hole, the entrance of which is loosely blocked with soil or grass.[19]
The population trend of the Bunyoro rabbit is believed to be stable and it is common in some parts of its range. The animal is hunted in Uganda usingdogs and nets, and while it occurs in someprotected areas, such asGaramba National Park, there are no particular protective measures that apply to the species. Some concerns have been raised over its limited distribution and the rarity of sightings compared with those in the early and mid-twentieth century.[12] TheInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), in itsRed List of Endangered Species, lists it as aleast-concern species, but notes that its population may be decreasing.[1]
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