Brush rabbit
Shrub rabbits ( Sylvilagus bachmani )
The shrub rabbits ( Sylvilagus bachmani ) is a mammal in the genus of cottontail rabbit among lagomorphs. It lives along the U.S. Pacific coast, especially in dense shrub stands.
Features
The shrub rabbit is a relatively small species of the genus with a body weight of less than 1000 grams and a body height from 30.0 to 37.5 inches. The back color and the tail are gray-brown to dark brown, the belly and the underside of the tail are whitish. The tail, ears and legs are relatively short, the feet are covered with short and only slightly.
Dissemination
The distribution area of the shrub rabbit runs along the American Pacific coast from the Columbia River to the south over Oregon and California to Baja California. The eastern boundary of the distribution area is the Sierra Nevada.
As the habitat type is mostly found more dense, shrubby habitats such as Rubus stocks.
Way of life
The shrub rabbit requires very dense shrub stocks and habitat, which provide him protection. The individual action areas are very small and are less than 2,000 m². The shrubs include passages that use the animals as paths, as well as animal burrows, which are used by the rabbits but do not even dug. To graze they move very cautiously out of the bushes. Their diet consists mostly of grasses, seasonal added more plant components such as leaves and berries. Unlike most rabbits, they are to climb in a position in low shrubs or trees.
The mating season varies regionally and depends on the temperatures and other factors. In the northern Oregon they usually begins in February and ends in August, in California it lasts from December to May or June. The litters consist average of 2.8 pups in Oregon and 3.5 to 4.0 in California. In the females bring in five to six litters 15 pups at a gestation period of 27 days per litter.
System
The shrub rabbit is assigned as an independent species the cottontail rabbits ( genus Sylvilagus ). Was first described scientifically in 1838 by the way the British zoologist George Robert Waterhouse, which they named after the natural scholar and Lutheran priest John Bachman.
Depending on the source are described up to 13 subspecies:
- Sylvilagus bachmani bachmani
- S. b. cinerascens
- S. b. peninsularis
- S. b. cerrosensis
- S. b. ubericolor
- S. b. exiguus
- S. b. mariposae
- S. b. virgulti
- S. b. howelli
- S. b. Macrorhinus
- S. b. riparius
- S. b. tehamae
- S. b. rosaphagus
Threats and conservation
The shrub rabbit is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN ) due to the population size and the large distribution area as not at risk ( least concern ).
For most populations of the species decline is not known, the subspecies S. b. riparius is classified as endangered due to increasing habitat changes and the threat of forest fires and floods from the state of California and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It comes exclusively in Caswell Memorial State Park in front of the Stanislaus River and in the area of southern deltas of the San Joaquin River.