Editing Rabbit (section)

===Differences from hares===
{{Main|Hare}}
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The term ''rabbit'' is typically used for all Leporidae species, excluding the genus ''Lepus''. Members of that genus are known as ''hares''{{sfn|Alves|Ferrand|Hackländer|2008|pages=1-9}} or ''jackrabbits''.{{sfn|Varga|2013|page=3}}

''Lepus'' species are [[precocial]], born relatively mature and mobile with hair and good vision out in the open air, while rabbit species are [[altricial]], born hairless and blind in burrows and buried nests.{{sfn|Nowak|1999|page=1720}} Hares are also generally larger than rabbits, and have longer [[pregnancy|pregnancies]].{{sfn|Alves|Ferrand|Hackländer|2008|pages=1-9}} Hares and some rabbits live relatively solitary lives above the ground in open grassy areas,{{sfn|Nowak|1999|pages=1733-1738}} interacting mainly during breeding season.{{Sfn|Angerbjörn|Schai-Braun|2023|pp=205-206}}<ref name="CapeHare">{{Citation |last1=Scandura |first1=Massimo |title=Cape Hare Lepus capensis Linnaeus, 1758 |date=2023 |work=Primates and Lagomorpha |pages=79–98 |editor-last=Hackländer |editor-first=Klaus |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-030-34043-8_10 |access-date=2024-09-16 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-34043-8_10 |isbn=978-3-030-34042-1 |last2=De Marinis |first2=Anna Maria |last3=Canu |first3=Antonio |editor2-last=Alves |editor2-first=Paulo C.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Some rabbit species group together to reduce their chance of being preyed upon,<ref name=":9">{{Citation |last1=Bell |first1=Diana |title=Rabbits and Hares |date=2006 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Mammals |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199206087.001.0001/acref-9780199206087-e-118 |access-date=2024-10-09 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199206087.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-920608-7 |last2=Smith |first2=Andrew T.|url-access=subscription }}</ref> and the European rabbit will form large social groups in [[burrow]]s,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Rodríguez-Martínez |first1=Luisa |last2=Hudson |first2=Robyn |last3=Martínez-Gómez |first3=Margarita |last4=Bautista |first4=Amando |date=January 2014 |title=Description of the nursery burrow of the Mexican cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus cunicularius under seminatural conditions |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13364-012-0125-6 |journal=Acta Theriologica |language=en |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=193–201 |doi=10.1007/s13364-012-0125-6 |issn=0001-7051|url-access=subscription }}</ref> which are grouped together to form [[warren (burrow)|warren]]s.{{Sfn|Delibes-Mateos|Rödel|Rouco|Alves|2023|pp=44-45}}{{sfn|Varga|2013|pages=3-4}} Burrowing by hares varies by location, and is more prominent in younger members of the genus;{{Sfn|Angerbjörn|Schai-Braun|2023|p=|pp=205-206}} many rabbit species that do not dig their own burrows will use the burrows of other animals.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Desert Cottontail (''Sylvilagus audubonii'') |url=http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/cotton/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611100626/http://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/wild/species/cotton/ |archive-date=2017-06-11 |website=Texas Parks & Wildlife}}</ref><ref name="Chapman1990">{{cite book |last1=Chapman |first1=Joseph |title=Rabbits, hares, and pikas : status survey and conservation action plan |date=1990 |publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |isbn=2-8317-0019-1 |page=99}}</ref>

Rabbits and hares have historically not occupied the same locations, and only became [[sympatric]] relatively recently; historic accounts describe antagonistic relationships between rabbits and hares, specifically between the [[European hare]] and [[European rabbit|European]] or [[cottontail rabbit]]s, but scientific literature since 1956 has found no evidence of aggression or undue competition between rabbits and hares. When they appear in the same habitat, rabbits and hares can co-exist on similar diets.{{sfn|Alves|Ferrand|Hackländer|2008|pages=241-249}} Hares will notably force other hare species out of an area to control resources, but are not territorial.{{Sfn|Angerbjörn|Schai-Braun|2023|pp=119–219}} When faced with predators, hares will escape by outrunning them, whereas rabbits, being smaller and less able to reach the high speeds of longer-legged hares, will try to seek cover.<ref name=":9" />

Descendants of the [[European rabbit]] are commonly bred as livestock and kept as pets, whereas no hares have been [[domesticated]], though populations have been introduced to non-native habitats for use as a food source.{{sfn|Nowak|1999|pages=1733-1738}} The breed known as the [[Belgian hare]] is actually a [[domestic rabbit]] which has been selectively bred to resemble a hare,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lyon |first=M. W. |date=1916 |title=Belgian Hare, A Misleading Misnomer |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1639908 |journal=Science |volume=43 |issue=1115 |pages=686–687 |doi=10.1126/science.43.1115.686.b |jstor=1639908 |pmid=17831801 |issn=0036-8075|url-access=subscription }}</ref> most likely from [[Flemish Giant rabbit|Flemish Giant]] stock originally.<ref>{{DomesticRabbitsWhitman|pages=74-95}}</ref> Common names of hare and rabbit species may also be confused; "jackrabbits" refer to hares, and the [[hispid hare]] is a rabbit.<ref name=":10">{{Citation |last=Toddes |first=Barbara |title=Lagomorpha Diet |date=2022 |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior |pages=3823–3826 |editor-last=Vonk |editor-first=Jennifer |url=https://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-3-319-55065-7_1209 |access-date=2024-11-13 |place=Cham |publisher=Springer International Publishing |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-55065-7_1209 |isbn=978-3-319-55064-0 |editor2-last=Shackelford |editor2-first=Todd K.|url-access=subscription }}</ref>