Lagomorpha

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The lagomorphs are the members of the taxonomic order Lagomorpha, of which there are two families, the Leporidae (hares and rabbits), and the Ochotonidae (pikas). The name of the order is derived from the Greek lagos (λαγος, "hare") and morphē (μορφή, "form").

Though these mammals can resemble rodents (order Rodentia), and were classified as a superfamily in that order until the early twentieth century, they have since been considered a separate order. For a time it was common to consider the lagomorphs only distant relatives of the rodents, to whom they merely bore a superficial resemblance.

The earliest fossil lagomorphs, such as Eurymylus, come from eastern Asia, and date to the late Paleocene or early Eocene.^[1] The leporids first appear in the late Eocene, and rapidly spread throughout the northern hemisphere; they show a trend towards increasingly long hind limbs as the modern leaping gait developed. The pikas appear somewhat later, in the Oligocene of eastern Asia.^[1]

Contents 1 Characteristics 2 Classification 3 See also 4 References

Characteristics

Lagomorphs differ from rodents in that:

• they have four incisors in the upper jaw (not two, as in the Rodentia);
• they are almost wholly herbivorous (unlike rodents, many of which will eat both meat and vegetation; the few recorded exceptions within the Lagomorpha occur among members of both Lepus and Ochotona, and involve the occasional foraging for carrion as a supplementary winter food source);^[1][1][1]
• the male's scrotum is in front of the penis (unlike rodents', which is behind); and
• the penis contains no bone (baculum), unlike in rodents.

However, they resemble rodents in that their teeth grow throughout their life, thus necessitating constant chewing to keep them from growing too long.

Classification

• ORDER LAGOMORPHA^[1]
  • Family Ochotonidae: pikas
    • Genus Ochotona
  • Family †Prolagidae: Sardinian Pika and other related extinct pikas
    • Genus †Prolagus
  • Family Leporidae: rabbits and hares
    • Genus Brachylagus
    • Genus Bunolagus
    • Genus Caprolagus
    • Genus Lepus
    • Genus Nesolagus
    • Genus Oryctolagus
    • Genus †Palaeolagus
    • Genus Pentalagus
    • Genus Poelagus
    • Genus Pronolagus
    • Genus Romerolagus
    • Genus Sylvilagus

See also

• Minorcan Giant Lagomorph

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Mammals Template:Lagomorphaar:أرنبيات br:Lagomorfed bg:Зайцевидни ca:Lagomorf cs:Zajícovci da:Støttetandede de:Hasenartige et:Jäneselised es:Lagomorpha eo:Leporuloj eu:Lagomorpha fr:Lagomorpha ko:토끼목 hsb:Zajacy hr:Zečevi it:Lagomorpha he:ארנבאים la:Lagomorpha lt:Kiškiažvėriai li:Knienechtege hu:Nyúlalakúak mt:Lagomorfu nl:Haasachtigen ja:ウサギ目 no:Haredyr nn:Haredyr oc:Lagomorpha pl:Zajęczaki pt:Lagomorfos ro:Lagomorfe qu:Rinrisapa khankiq ru:Зайцеобразные stq:Hoasenoardige simple:Lagomorpha sk:Dvojitozubce sl:Lagomorfi sh:Zec fi:Jäniseläimet sv:Hardjur tr:Tavşanımsılar uk:Зайцеподібні zh:兔形目