Nuralagus

Live reconstruction of Nuralagus rex after the first description.

Nuralagus rex is an extinct mammal from the family of hares ( Leporidae ) and so far the only known representative of the genus Nuralagus. The species was described scientifically in 2011 and lived in the lower Pliocene on the Balearic island of Menorca. N. rex is the largest lagomorphs, which was ever found.

Description

N. rex was an extremely large rabbit -like. The largest extant lagomorphs, hares weighs a maximum of about 5 kg. With a mass of about 12 kg N. rex was more than twice as heavy and is by far the largest lagomorphs, which was ever found.

Compared to continental spread rabbits N. had rex one in relation to the rest of the body very small and also broad, flat skull with correspondingly small eyes and ears, relatively short hind legs, long, claw-like distal finger and toe phalanges, a strongly curved and inflexible spine and lumbar vertebrae with short horizontally oriented transverse processes. This rabbit was also extremely strong and very short ribs, and probably a narrow thorax, these features point to a greatly reduced oxygen uptake. N. rex was apparently plantigrade.

Paleobiology and phylogenetic development

Overall, it make the present characteristics very likely that the type could move differently than continental spread hare slow going and no longer was able to jump. The large and strongly curved end members of the toes point to a marked grave ability.

N. rex is considered by Erstbeschreibern as a typical example of endemic mammals on islands. The environmental conditions for the development of these endemics were a reduced food supply and thus strong intraspecific competition with simultaneous elimination of predation on the one hand and on the other hand, interspecific competition. These conditions led to a reduction of no longer needed for protection against predators, motor and sensory skills and thus to adapt to the low food supply in energy savings.

N. rex has many similarities to not more closely related recent Ryukyu Rabbit ( Pentalagus furnessi ), living under similar ecological conditions; the describer interpret these similarities as a result of convergence.

Discovery and designation

The species was described scientifically in 2011. The fossil bone remains of N. rex come from the early 1990s discovered karst fissure fillings between Cala Es Pous and Punta Nati in the northwest of the Balearic island of Menorca. The genus name is composed of " Nura ", the ancient Phoenician name for Menorca and λαγώς " lagos ", the Greek word for " rabbit" together; the epithet " rex " in Latin means "king".