The Tehuantepec jackrabbit (Lepus flavigularis) is easily distinguished from other species of jackrabbits by two black stripes that run from the base of the ears to the nape, and by their white flanks (Flux and Angermann 1990). Underparts are white, upperparts are bright-brown washed with black, rump is gray, and the tail is black. This leporid is one of the largest jackrabbits and has large ears and legs. Adults weigh about 3500 to 4000 grams.

Common Names

Biana (Zapotec, indigenous language in México), Liebre de Tehuantepec (Spanish), Liebre Tehuana (Spanish), Tehuantepec jackrabbit (English), Tropical hare (English).

Distribution

The Tehuantepec jackrabbit is a rare endemic of Oaxaca, México, and is only found along savannas and grassy dunes on the shores of a salt water lagoon connected to the Gulf of Tehuantepec. Three small populations persist isolated from each other.

The former distribution of the Tehuantepec jackrabbit is not documented in detail, but Nelson (1909) estimated the leporid's historic geographic range along the Mexican Pacific Coast on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec from Salina Cruz in Oaxaca to Tonalá in Chiapas, an area of perhaps only 5000 km sq.

Habitat and Ecology

Tropical dry savannas dominated by native grasses (Bouteloua, Paspalum) with an overstory of sparse bushes of nanche (Byrsonima crassifolia), and scattered trees of morro (Crescentia) are selected by Tehuantepec jackrabbits (Farías 2004). Tehuantepec jackrabbits are also found in coastal grassy dunes with Opuntia decumbens, Opuntia tehuantepecana, and Sabal mexicana (Vargas 2000).

Home ranges overlap with one or more individuals regardless of sex and age, and home range size is about 50 ha with core areas of 9 ha for adult jackrabbits (Farías 2004). Tehuantepec jackrabbits are nocturnal and crepuscular, and during the diurnal hours they rest in forms under bushes or grasses.

Native mammals that coexist with Tehuantepec jackrabbits are cottontail rabbits (Sylvilagus floridanus), nine-banded armadillos (Dasypus novemcinctus), skunks (Mephitis macroura, Conepatus mesoleucus), opossums (Didelphis marsupialis), mouse opossums (Marmosa canescens), gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus), raccoons (Procyon lotor), and coyotes (Canis latrans; Cervantes and Yépez 1995). Gray foxes and coyotes are native predators of Tehuantepec jackrabbits.

Reproduction

The lengh of the breeding season may extend from February to December, with a peak in reproduction during the rainy season (from May to October). Litter size is one to four embryos (Cervantes 1993), but the number of litters producer per female per year remains to be investigated.

Conservation

The Tehuantepec jackrabbit is listed as critically endangered in the Mexican Official Norm NOM-059-ECOL-2001, and as an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species.

Threats

Tehuantepec jackrabbits are jeopardized by habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, small population size, and genetic isolation. Introductin of exotic grasses, frequent and induced fires, agricultural and cattle-raising activities, and human settlements are deteriorating the floristic diversity and native vegetation structure in savannas inhabited by Tehuantepec jackrabbits (Farías 2004; Pérez-García et al. 2001). Locally, Tehuantepec jackrabbits are taken occasionally as subsistence hunting, and very occasionally as pets in rural communities. Predation by gray foxes and coyotes is the major cause of mortality of Tehuantepec jackrabbits (Farías 2004). However, poachers may come from nearby cities and decimate populations in a few nights of hunting.

Bibliography

Cervantes, F. A. 1993. Lepus flavigularis. Mammalian Species 423:1-3.

Cervantes, F. A., and C. Lorenzo. 1997. Morphometric differentiation of rabbits (Sylvilagus and Romerolagus) and jackrabbits (Lepus) of Mexico. Gibier Faune Sauvage 14:405-425.

Cervantes, F. A., and L. Yépez. 1995. Species richness of mammals from the vicinity of Salina Cruz, coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. Anales del Instituto de Biología Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Serie Zoología 66: 113-122.

Farías, V. 2004. Spatio-temporal ecology and habitat selection of the critically endangered tropical hare (Lepus flavigularis) in Oaxaca, Mexico. Ph.D. Dissertation. University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Flux, J. E. C., and R. Angermann. 1990. The hares and jackrabbits. Pp. 61-94 in Rabbits, hares, and pikas. Status survey and conservation action plan (Chapman, J. A. and J. E. C. Flux, eds.) Chapter 4. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Gland, Switzerland. 168 pp.

Nelson, E. W. 1909. The rabbits of North America. North American Fauna 29:9-287

Pérez-García, E. A., J. Meave, and C. Gallardo. 2001. Vegetación y Flora de la Región de Nizanda, Istmo de Tehuatnepec, Oaxaca, México. Acta Botánica Mexicana 56:19-88.

Sántis, E. C. 2002. Distribución y abundancia de la liebre endémica Lepus flavigularis y el conejo castellano Sylvilagus floridanus (Mammalia: Lagomorpha) en el Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, México. Tesis de Licenciado en Biología. Universidad de Ciencias y Artes de Chiapas. Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas, México.

Vargas, J. 2000. Distribución, abundancia y hábitat de la liebre endémica Lepus flavigularis (Mammalia: Lagomorpha) Tesis de Maestría en Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. México, D. F., México.

Vargas, Z. 2001. Valoración de los vertebrados terrestres por los huaves y zapotecas de la zona lagunar del Istmo de Tehuantepec, Oaxaca. Tesis de Maestría. El Colegio de la Frontera Sur. Chiapas, México.

Villa, B., and F. A. Cervantes. 2003. Los mamíferos de México. Iberoamericana. Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. México, D. F. 140 pp. and CD-rom.

Leporids | Fauna of Mexico