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Volcano rabbit - ROMEROLAGUS DIAZI
Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Rabbit": "Rabbit" is probably the diminutive of the Flemish word for the animal, "robbe."
Location: Mexico
Habitat: On the slopes of volcanoes, usually at an altitude of 9000 to 10,500 feet.
Description: This is one of the smallest of the rabbits in the Americas. The color of the coat is uniformly dark brown mixed with scattered yellowish parts of hairs on the back and dark brownish gray below. It has long rounded ears, and the tail is virtually nonexistent. In appearance the volcano rabbit looks more like a large vole or pika than a hare or rabbit. It sheds its coat once a year. The volcano rabbit grows to only about a foot long, and weighs just over two pounds.
Behavior: This rabbit lives in the densest grass available for the altitude, where it maintains paths along which it moves. It is mainly nocturnal, but also is active in daylight when it is cloudy or overcast. As soon as a ray of sunlight appears, it is quite common to see this rabbit spread out on the ground to warm itself. It feeds on shoots and the tenderest blades of grass. It has a high-pitched voice. As with all true rabbits, it digs burrows for a refuge.
Reproduction: Nothing is known about its reproductive biology and behavior.
Note: This species is strictly protected, but it is nevertheless hunted by local people for its flesh or simply for sport.
Go to the Rabbits Page to get a general discussion of this order of animals.
Go to the Rabbits Index to study the other rabbits and hares included in America Zoo.
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