Tag lagomorph

What is the difference between the European Hare and the Patagonian Mara?

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What is the difference between the European Hare (Lepus europaeus) and the Patagonian Mara (Dolichotis patagonum)?

The European Hare is a lagomorph, specifically a leporid mammal, related to rabbits. It is also known as the Brown Hare. The Patagonian Mara is a large rodent. It is also known as the Patagonian Hare or the Patagonian Cavy, but it is not a hare and it is not related to hares or rabbits. The Patagonian Mara is a cavid, related to the guinea pig. 

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Tolai Hare

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The Tolai Hare (Lepus tolai) is a lagomorph mammal in the Leporidae family of hares. 

The Tolai Hare is variable in colour, but it usually has pale-brown, sandy-grey, or brownish-yellow fur. It has a white underbelly. It has black-tipped elongated ears. It has long legs, a flexible neck, and a short, stub tail, called a scut, with a brownish-black stripe on the top. It has large incisors (front teeth) as well as cheek teeth. It has orange-brown eyes.

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Holland Lop Rabbit

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The Holland Lop Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus) is a mammal in the Leporidae family of domestic lop-eared rabbits. It is a sub-species of the European Rabbit. It is a leporid mammal, or a lagomorph.

The Holland Lop Rabbit is a hybrid of the French Lop Rabbit and the Netherland Dwarf Rabbit. It is small, light, and fluffly. It has a wide range of colours, but it is mainly white, light orange, grey, brown, or dark chocolate brown. It has a white underbelly. 

It is famous for its lopped, almond-shaped ears that hang limply down the side of its face, instead of standing upwards. Its legs are short with claws on its feet. It has a short tail called a scut. It has black or brown eyes. It has incisors (front teeth) as well as cheek teeth. 

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Plantigrade Locomotion

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What is plantigrade locomotion?

Plantigrade locomotion is the way some animals walk with their toes and metatarsals (heels) flat on the ground.

Terrestrial (land) mammals have three ways of walking:

(1) digitigrade (walking on their toes with their heels permanently raised),

(2) unguligrade (walking on the nail of their toes – the hoof – with the heel permanently raised), and 

(3) plantigrade (walking with their toes and heels on the ground).

The leg of a plantigrade mammal includes the bones of the upper leg, called the femur and humerus, and the bones of the lower leg, called the metatarsals and metacarpals. 

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