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Lepus corsicanus

(LI?VRE DE CORSE)

Overview

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Vulnerable

Threat status

Interesting Facts

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Common Names

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Click on the language to view common names.

Common Names in English:

Apennine Hare, APPENINE HARE, Corsican Hare, Italian hare

Common Names in French:

LI?VRE DE CORSE

Common Names in Spanish:

LIEBRE DE C?RCEGA

Description

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Habitat

Biome: Terrestrial [1].

Ecology: Information about the ecology of this species is still limited. However, it seems well adapted to the Mediterranean environment, although it has been recorded from sea level to 2,400 m a.s.l. on Mount Etna (Sicily). The preferred habitats are the Mediterranean maquis and the mosaic of clearings (also cultivated), bushy areas, and broad-leaved woods . Furthermore L. corsicanus inhabits also coastal dune habitat. When L. corsicanus is in sympatry with L. europaeus, the latter species tends to be more a habitat generalist, while L. corsicanus seems to inhabit almost only pastures and grasslands. In Sicily, the species inhabits a variety of natural and artificial habitats: open grassland, bushy pastures, cultivated areas, etc.

In terms of elevation , L. europaeus and L. corsicanus do not differ significantly when they live allopatrically. According to Angelici and Luiselli (in press ), when the two species coexist in sympatry, L. corsicanus occurs at elevations significantly higher than L. europaeus. L. europaeus inhabits significantly higher elevations when it lives allopatrically than when it lives sympatrically, and L. corsicanus inhabits significantly higher elevations when it lives sympatrically than when it lives allopatrically. However, this ecological allocation is not shared by Trocchi and Riga who always directly observed, in sympatric condition, L. europaeus occupying the mountain grassland and L. corsicanus inhabiting the lower and warmer areas with thermophilous oak woods.

The diet of L. corsicanus, studied in Sicily, varies seasonally as the available vegetation changes. Monocotyledones, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae, are ingested year round , while Gramineae and Labiatae are consumed during spring and summer, respectively (De Battisti et al. 2004). Dicotyledones ingested year round by L. corsicanus are Leguminosae and Compositae (De Battisti et al. 2004).[1].

List of Habitats:

Taxonomy

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Synonyms

Lepus corsicanus de de Winton, 1898. • Lepus corsicanus de Winton • Lepus corsicanus de Winton, 1898

Notes

Name Status: Accepted Name .

Last scrutiny: 15-Aug-2007

Formerly included in Lepus capensis or L. europaeus; see Ellerman and Morrison-Scott (1951) and Petter (1961); but see also Palacios et al. (1989) and Pierpaoli et al. (1999) who provided evidence of their specific distinctness (see also below).

The taxonomic status of L. corsicanus has been uncertain since its first description by De Winton in 1898. Its species rank was soon rejected by Miller (1912) and others, who considered L. corsicanus a subspecies of L. europaeus. However, Palacios (1996) studied historical museum specimen and described new morphological traits that provided phenotypic support for the species rank of the Apennine Hare. Recent molecular studies confirmed that L. corsicanus is a phylogenetically distinct species, which can be identified by concordant morphological and mtDNA traits. It is reproductively isolated and apparently does not hybridize with sympatric L. europaeus. Phylogenetical analyses suggested that corsicanus and europaeus are not closely related sister taxa, but belong to distinct evolutionary lineages that dispersed in western Europe in different periods during the early Pleistocene . L. corsicanus probably differentiated in isolated refuges in southern Italy during the last glaciation. Comparative analyses of genetic variability highlighted a phylogeographical structure of the Apennine Hare. Recently, it has been hypothesized that L. corsicanus and L. castroviejoi are conspecific , based on preliminary molecular studies involving low sample size and mtDNA (Alves et al. 2003).[1].

Similar Species

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Members of the genus Lepus

ZipcodeZoo has pages for 58 species and subspecies in this genus:

L. alleni (Antelope Jack Rabbit) · L. alleni alleni (Antelope Jack Rabbit) · L. americanus (Snowshoe Rabbit) · L. americanus americanus (Snowshoe Hare) · L. americanus klamathensis (Snowshoe Hare) · L. americanus seclusus (Bighorn Mountain Snowshoe Hare) · L. americanus tahoensis (Sierra Nevada Snowshoe Hare) · L. americanus washingtonii (Washington Snowshoe Hare) · L. arcticus (Arctic Hare) · L. arcticus arcticus (Arctic Hare) · L. brachyurus (Japanese Hare) · L. brachyurus brachyurus (Japanese Hare) · L. californica (Black-Tailed Jack Rabbit) · L. californicus (Black-Tailed Jack Rabbit) · L. californicus bennettii (Black-Tailed Jackrabbit) · L. californicus californicus (Black-Tailed Jack Rabbit) · L. callotis (Beautiful-Eared Jack Rabbit) · L. callotis callotis (Beautiful-Eared Jack Rabbit) · L. callotis gaillardi (White-Sided Jackrabbit) · L. capensis (European Hare) · L. capensis capensis (Brown Hare) · L. castroviejoi (Broom Hare) · L. comus (Yunnan Hare) · L. coreanus (Korean Hare) · L. corsicanus (APPENINE HARE) · L. europaeus (European Brown Hare) · L. fagani (Ethiopian Hare) · L. flavigularis (Tehuantepec Jack Rabbit) · L. granatensis (Iberian Hare) · L. granatensis granatensis (Granada Hare) · L. habessinicus (Abyssinian Hare) · L. hainanus (Chinese Pinyin) · L. insularis (Espiritu Santo Jackrabbit) · L. mandshuricus (Manchurian Hare) · L. microtis (African Savanna Hare) · L. nigricollis (Black-Napped Hare) · L. nigricollis nigricollis (Indian Hare) · L. oiostolus (Woolly Hare) · L. oiostolus oiostolus (Woolly Hare) · L. oistolus (Woolly Hare) · L. othus (Beringian Hare) · L. othus othus (Alaskan Hare) · L. peguensis (Siamese Hare) · L. saxatilis (Savannah Hare) · L. saxatilis saxatilis (Scrub Hare) · L. sinensis (Chinese Hare) · L. sinensis sinensis (Chinese Hare) · L. starcki (Ethiopian Highland Hare) · L. tibetanus (Desert Hare) · L. timidus (Eurasian Arctic Hare) · L. timidus timidus (Arctic Hare) · L. tolai (Tolai Hare) · L. townsendi (White-Tailed Jack Rabbit) · L. townsendii (White-Tailed Jack Rabbit) · L. townsendii campanius (White-Tailed Jackrabbit) · L. townsendii townsendii (Western White-Tailed Jackrabbit) · L. victoriae (African Savanna Hare) · L. yarkandensis (Yarkland Hare)

More Info

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Further Reading

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Notes

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Contributors

Data Sources

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 03, 2008:

Identifiers

Footnotes

  1. Angelici, F.M., Randi, E., Riga, F. & Trocchi, V. 2008. Lepus corsicanus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 01 February 2012. [back]
Last Revised: 7/15/2012