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Swamp rabbit
The swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus), also known as the cane cutter, swamper, or cane jake, is a species of cottontail rabbit found in the swamps and wetlands of the southern United States. It is herbivorous, territorial, and nocturnal. The largest of the cottontail rabbits, it is similar in appearance to the eastern cottontail, but has distinctly smaller ears and orange-colored hind legs. Swamp rabbits are closely related to the marsh rabbit. The two species likely separated during the Pleistocene epoch.
The swamp rabbit is most abundant in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and also inhabits South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Georgia. Its habitat is largely dominated by regions near lowland water. Unlike other cottontail rabbits, the swamp rabbit is territorial and maintains a social order between higher- and lower-ranking males and females via displays of dominance, vocalizations, and occasional fighting. This rabbit is unique in that it ventures into water on its own, unlike other Texas rabbits, and is rarely spotted during the day due to its secretive nature. When threatened, it will take to water and swim. Swamp rabbits in a given population usually breed around the same time, giving birth to young that are born blind, immobile, and completely dependent for the first few days. Their nests—called forms—are lined with fur and grass. Each litter produces one to six young. The breeding season varies across the species' range: In Texas, the breeding season lasts all year, but elsewhere occurs between February and August.
Predators, parasites, and human interaction pose threats to the swamp rabbit. Dogs, American alligators, and feral pigs prey upon the swamp rabbit, and it is a potential host to several parasites—roundworms, flukes, and the rabbit tick. The swamp rabbit is also affected by tularemia, an infectious disease. It is hunted for its meat and fur, and faces habitat loss due to expansion of agricultural developments that both remove usable habitat and cause frequent flooding. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as a least-concern species, but in some states it is protected as a vulnerable or special concern species.
The swamp rabbit was first described in 1837 by the American naturalist John Bachman as Lepus aquaticus, described as being collected in "western Alabama". In 1904, it was placed in the genus Limnolagus as the type species by American mammalogist Marcus Ward Lyon Jr.; the name was previously used as the subgenus of both the swamp rabbit and marsh rabbit (S. palustris) in an 1899 work by the Swiss physician Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major. Edward William Nelson, an American naturalist, clarified several years later in 1909 that the species belonged to Sylvilagus and grouped it alongside the marsh rabbit. Common names of the swamp rabbit include "cane cutter", "swamper", and "cane jake".
Two subspecies are recognized: Sylvilagus aquaticus aquaticus, the nominate subspecies that occupies most of the swamp rabbit's recognized distribution, and Sylvilagus aquaticus littoralis, the coast swamp rabbit, which is found only in a narrow band of marshes in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Nelson made the distinction between the subspecies in the same 1909 work where the species was classified as a member of Sylvilagus, noting that the littoralis form had "remarkable" differences from the nominate subspecies and that it had been assumed to be the "true aquaticus" in prior studies.
Sylvilagus aquaticus fossils have been identified as early as the Pleistocene epoch, with a 1940 discovery of molar teeth found in a Missouri deposit dating back to that era. Glaciations from the Illinoian stage (a geological period in North America ranging from 0.191 to 0.13 million years ago) likely created refugia that led to the emergence of the swamp rabbit as a distinct species. Glacial movements in the late Pleistocene (during and after the Illinoian) created a hybrid zone in western Georgia, which likely led to the separation of the swamp rabbit from the marsh rabbit (S. palustris), its closest relative.
The swamp rabbit has 38 diploid chromosomes, the same number as the marsh rabbit and fewer than several other members of Sylvilagus. Based on mitochondrial and nuclear gene analysis, its closest genetic relative is the marsh rabbit, with which it forms a clade. Its next closest relatives are the desert cottontail (S. audubonii) and mountain cottontail (S. nuttallii).
The swamp rabbit is found in much of the south-central United States and along the Gulf coast. It is most abundant in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, but also inhabits South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Georgia. It is possibly extirpated (locally extinct) from Kansas.
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Swamp rabbit
The swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus), also known as the cane cutter, swamper, or cane jake, is a species of cottontail rabbit found in the swamps and wetlands of the southern United States. It is herbivorous, territorial, and nocturnal. The largest of the cottontail rabbits, it is similar in appearance to the eastern cottontail, but has distinctly smaller ears and orange-colored hind legs. Swamp rabbits are closely related to the marsh rabbit. The two species likely separated during the Pleistocene epoch.
The swamp rabbit is most abundant in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, and also inhabits South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Georgia. Its habitat is largely dominated by regions near lowland water. Unlike other cottontail rabbits, the swamp rabbit is territorial and maintains a social order between higher- and lower-ranking males and females via displays of dominance, vocalizations, and occasional fighting. This rabbit is unique in that it ventures into water on its own, unlike other Texas rabbits, and is rarely spotted during the day due to its secretive nature. When threatened, it will take to water and swim. Swamp rabbits in a given population usually breed around the same time, giving birth to young that are born blind, immobile, and completely dependent for the first few days. Their nests—called forms—are lined with fur and grass. Each litter produces one to six young. The breeding season varies across the species' range: In Texas, the breeding season lasts all year, but elsewhere occurs between February and August.
Predators, parasites, and human interaction pose threats to the swamp rabbit. Dogs, American alligators, and feral pigs prey upon the swamp rabbit, and it is a potential host to several parasites—roundworms, flukes, and the rabbit tick. The swamp rabbit is also affected by tularemia, an infectious disease. It is hunted for its meat and fur, and faces habitat loss due to expansion of agricultural developments that both remove usable habitat and cause frequent flooding. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as a least-concern species, but in some states it is protected as a vulnerable or special concern species.
The swamp rabbit was first described in 1837 by the American naturalist John Bachman as Lepus aquaticus, described as being collected in "western Alabama". In 1904, it was placed in the genus Limnolagus as the type species by American mammalogist Marcus Ward Lyon Jr.; the name was previously used as the subgenus of both the swamp rabbit and marsh rabbit (S. palustris) in an 1899 work by the Swiss physician Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major. Edward William Nelson, an American naturalist, clarified several years later in 1909 that the species belonged to Sylvilagus and grouped it alongside the marsh rabbit. Common names of the swamp rabbit include "cane cutter", "swamper", and "cane jake".
Two subspecies are recognized: Sylvilagus aquaticus aquaticus, the nominate subspecies that occupies most of the swamp rabbit's recognized distribution, and Sylvilagus aquaticus littoralis, the coast swamp rabbit, which is found only in a narrow band of marshes in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas along the Gulf of Mexico coast. Nelson made the distinction between the subspecies in the same 1909 work where the species was classified as a member of Sylvilagus, noting that the littoralis form had "remarkable" differences from the nominate subspecies and that it had been assumed to be the "true aquaticus" in prior studies.
Sylvilagus aquaticus fossils have been identified as early as the Pleistocene epoch, with a 1940 discovery of molar teeth found in a Missouri deposit dating back to that era. Glaciations from the Illinoian stage (a geological period in North America ranging from 0.191 to 0.13 million years ago) likely created refugia that led to the emergence of the swamp rabbit as a distinct species. Glacial movements in the late Pleistocene (during and after the Illinoian) created a hybrid zone in western Georgia, which likely led to the separation of the swamp rabbit from the marsh rabbit (S. palustris), its closest relative.
The swamp rabbit has 38 diploid chromosomes, the same number as the marsh rabbit and fewer than several other members of Sylvilagus. Based on mitochondrial and nuclear gene analysis, its closest genetic relative is the marsh rabbit, with which it forms a clade. Its next closest relatives are the desert cottontail (S. audubonii) and mountain cottontail (S. nuttallii).
The swamp rabbit is found in much of the south-central United States and along the Gulf coast. It is most abundant in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana, but also inhabits South Carolina, Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, and Georgia. It is possibly extirpated (locally extinct) from Kansas.