Lagomorphs | Lagomorpha

Haasachtigen | Lagomorfos

Herbivores with, unlike the rodents, two pairs of upper incisors: just behind the large front pair stands a second, small pair of peg teeth. All the incisors grow continuously and carry enamel on the front face only, so that wear itself keeps a chisel edge; behind them lies a broad toothless gap, and the lower jaw grinds sideways across the cheekteeth rather than up and down. The feet have no bare pads but are densely furred right out to the toes. The eyes sit high and far to the side and take in almost the whole circle without the head having to turn. The food is poor and fibrous and is therefore digested twice: the soft pellets from the caecum are taken directly at the anus and pass through the stomach a second time. Gestation is short and several litters follow in a year.

Families in this order

Hares and rabbits | Leporidae10 speciesThe ears are long and thin and richly veined, so that they not only hear but shed heat — the warmer the country, the larger the ear. The eyes sit high and so far to the side that the animal can see behind it. The hind legs are far longer than the front pair and, at speed, land outside the forefeet; the soles are furred rather than padded, which grips on snow and loose sand. Within the family two ways of life diverge. Hares do not dig: they give birth in a shallow form above ground, and the young arrive furred, seeing and with muscle enough to move. Rabbits dig an extensive system of tunnels, live in groups, and bear naked blind young in a breeding stop lined with wool from the doe's own belly. In both, ovulation is triggered by mating itself, and litters follow one another so fast that a female may be pregnant while still suckling.