What make it a "rabbit"
Think of it this way: What makes you a member of YOUR family?
Look at your family tree and what makes your family special...
You are part of the human family and a family unit where you live.
What do you have in common with your relatives who share your family name? What makes you the same? Do you have similar looking noses? Are you similar in height? Eye color? Hair color?
"Hares and rabbits are in the same family, Leporidae, but they're "different species, like sheep and goats are different species."
---Steven Lukefahr, a geneticist at Texas A&M University.
Rabbits have four top teeth, many back chewing teeth. Two long ears. Fur. Long back powerful jumping legs. Whiskers. Five toes on front feet. Four toes on back feet. The spine bone extends to make a tail. Their eyes are on the side of the head (clue: herbivore) Their teeth grow their entire lifetime and need to grind them so their mouths can close. They eat their food twice (coprophagia). They are diurnal (out at night and day). Gestation or how long the babies are inside the Momma Bunny averages to be 30 days.
Babies are called "kits" in a "litter." They are weaned between 6-8 weeks. Our breeds are fully mature and able to reproduce in approximately 5-6 months. These heritage breeds weigh about 8-12 pounds each as adults. Females are "does" and males are "bucks"
RABBITS
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (Spinal Cord)
Class: Mammalia (Have fur; Nurse their babies)
Order: Lagomorpha (Four upper teeth, herbivore)
Family: Leporidae (Furry tails, long ears, long back legs)
Genus:
* Bunolagus
* Caprolagus
* Lepus >> (Hare or Jackrabbit)
* Nesolagus
* Oryctolagus (Domestic rabbit) >>Species >> Breed
* Pentolagus
* Pronolagus
* Romerolagus
* Sylvilagus >> (Cotton tail) >> Eastern Cotton Tail (wild rabbit)
For comparison, here is the same for a HUMAN
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata (Spinal Cord)
Class: Mammalia (Have fur; Nurse their babies)
Order: Primate
Family: Hominidae
Genus: Homo
Species: Homo Sapiens
All rabbits are lagomorphs and are the same family (Leporidae), same class (mammal) same phylum (chordata: all have spinal cords) and same kingdom (animal). If you are from the Genus of Lepus, then you are a hare or jackrabbit. Every other genus is commonly called a "rabbit" with the cute name of "bunny" or "bunny rabbit"
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RABBITS AND HARES
The genotype is different as you can see from the family tree, but how do they look different (phenotype)?
RABBIT HARE
BABY NAME Kit Leveret
EYES AT BIRTH Closed Open
FUR AT BIRTH Bald Has fur
ARE GUINEA PIGS and RABBITS RELATED?
They are both mammals, but guinea pigs are in the rodent order and are in the cavie family while rabbits are in the lagomorph order and are in the leporidae family. The Lakota (Native Americans) have a phrase "Mitakuye Owasin" which means "we are all related."
So depending on your view of the world, yes rabbits and guinea pigs ARE related to each other, but they are distant, distant cousins.
Yet they are more similar than a rabbit and a bear... and definitely more similar than a rabbit and a fish... and definitely a LOT more similar than a rabbit and an amoeba.
It's always best to draw a family tree...
IS A RABBIT A RODENT? No.
1) Rabbits are in the Lagamorph Order.
Rodents are in the Rodentia Order.
2) Rabbits have four upper powerful incisor teeth.
Rodents have two upper incisor teeth.
3) Rabbits are herbivores (eat plants)
Many rodents are omnivores (eat plants and meat)
4) Rabbits have four toes on back feet and five on front. Rodents have five and five.
Examples of rodents: mice, rats, squirrels, beavers, marmots, vole, prairie dogs
OTHER LAGAMORPHS:
Lepus victoriae
African Savanna Hare
Lepus othus
Alaskan Hare
Lepus alleni
Antelope Jackrabbit
Lepus arcticus
Arctic Hare
Lepus insularis
Black Jackrabbit
Lepus californicus
Balck-tailed Jackrabbit
Lepus castroviejoi
Broom Hare
Lepus pequensis
Burmese Hare
Lepus capensis
Brown Hare
Lepus sinensis
Chinese Hare
Lepus corsicanus
Corsican Hare
Lepus starcki
Ethiopean Hare
Lepus europaeus
Ethiopean Highland Hare
Lepus granatensis
Granada Hare
Lepus hainanus
Hainan Hare
Lepus nigricollis
Indian Hare
Lepus bracyurus
Japanese Hare
Lepus coreanus
Korean Hare
Lepus timidus
Mountain Hare
Lepus saxatilis
Scrub Hare
Lepus flavigularis
Tehuantepc Jackrabbit
Lepus tolai
Tolai Hare
Lepus callotis
White-sided Jackrabbit
Lepus townsendii
White-tailed Jackrabbit
Lepsus oiostlus
Woolly Hare
Lepus oiostolus
Wooly Hare
Lepus varkandensis
Yarkland Hare
Lepus comus
Yunnan Hare
Lepus americanus
Snowshoe Hare