Lagomorph Biology: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation

✍ Scribed by Joseph A. Chapman, John E. C. Flux (auth.), Professor Dr. Paulo C. Alves, Professor Dr. Nuno Ferrand, Professor Dr. Klaus Hackländer (eds.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 404
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Lagomorphs are a mammalian order which includes rabbits, hares and pikas. They are distributed throughout the world and are of both scientific and public interest as they are classified between endangered and pest species. In addition, some have a high economic value as important game species. In the last few decades, a huge amount of information was made available to the scientific community and resulted in remarkable advances on all aspects of Lagomorph biology. However, this information is dispersed in multiple scientific and non-scientific journals. This book provides an updated synthesis of the current knowledge on Lagomorph biology.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xviii
Introduction to the Lagomorpha....Pages 1-9
Prehistoric and Historic Artificial Dispersal of Lagomorphs on the Mediterranean Islands....Pages 13-25
The Lagomorph Fossil Record and the Origin of the European Rabbit....Pages 27-46
Inferring the Evolutionary History of the European Rabbit ( Oryctolagus cuniculus ) from Molecular Markers....Pages 47-63
Phylogenetic Aspects of Nuclear and Mitochondrial Gene-Pool Characteristics of South and North African Cape Hares ( Lepus capensis ) and European Hares ( Lepus europaeus )....Pages 65-85
The World of Pikas....Pages 89-102
When? Where? and for How Long? Census Design Considerations for an Alpine Lagomorph, the Collared Pika ( Ochotona collaris )....Pages 103-113
Weather Effects on Reproduction, Survival, and Body Mass of European Rabbits in a Temperate Zone Habitat....Pages 115-124
Ecosystem Engineering Effects of European Rabbits in a Mediterranean Habitat....Pages 125-139
Forest-Fire Regime: The Missing Link to Understand Snowshoe Hare Population Fluctuations?....Pages 141-152
Introduced Lagomorphs as a Threat to “Native” Lagomorphs: The Case of the Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) in Northern Italy....Pages 153-164
Testing Multiple Hypotheses to Identify Causes of the Decline of a Lagomorph Species: The New England Cottontail as a Case Study....Pages 167-185
Many Common Odour Cues and (at Least) One Pheromone Shaping the Behaviour of Young Rabbits....Pages 189-209
Mother-Young and Within-Litter Relations in the European Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus ....Pages 211-223
Fertility and Infertility in the European Hare Lepus europaeus in Australia....Pages 225-240
A Review of Competition between Rabbits ( Oryctolagus cuniculus ) and Hares ( Lepus europaeus )....Pages 241-249
European Brown Hare Syndrome....Pages 253-261
How Many Caliciviruses are there in Rabbits? A Review on RHDV and Correlated Viruses....Pages 263-278
Geographic and Seasonal Variation in the Impact of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease on European Rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus , and Rabbit Damage in Australia....Pages 279-293
Conservation of Endangered Lagomorphs....Pages 297-315
Managing the European Rabbit: Converging Interests Between Australian Research for Rabbit Control and European Research for their Conservation....Pages 317-326
Improving Rabbit Restocking Success: A Review of Field Experiments in France....Pages 327-348
Recovering the Endangered Riparian Brush rabbit ( Sylvilagus bachmani riparius ): Reproduction and Growth in Confinement and Survival after Translocation....Pages 349-361
Conservation of Critically Endangered Lagomorphs: The Tehuantepec Jackrabbit ( Lepus flavigularis ) as an Example....Pages 363-368
A Review of the Biology and Conservation of the Amami Rabbit ( Pentalagus furnessi )....Pages 369-377
Overview of Lagomorph Research: What we have learned and what we still need to do....Pages 381-391
Back Matter....Pages 393-413

✦ Subjects

Zoology; Animal Ecology; Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography