The Hares and Rabbits have a worldwide distribution, but they are not
indigenous to Australia and New Zealand ; Rabbits have, however, been introduced,
and have established themselves so well that they are now a plague.
The Lagomyidce or Pikas, the second family of the Duplicidentata, are not
now found in Britain, but the Siberian Pika, Lagomys alpinus, inhabited the
south of England in the Pleistocene period.
Genus Lepus
The members of this the only genus are terrestrial in habit, frequenting, as
a rule, open arablSIand or desolate plateaux. The Rabbit and Hispid Hare
burrow, and the Mountain. Hare places i|»jyoung in cavities in the ground. The
majority of the species are found in temperate climates, but some occur in the hot
plains and deserts of India and America.
The Hares and Rabbits are now often placed in two different genera—-Lepus
and OryctolagusWeSMaccount of slight differences In the structure of the skull and
cæcum and in habits, but as intermediate forms exist we prefer at present to
retain the single genus. Perhaps the most important distinction is the condition
of the young at birth, for whereas in the Hares the young are born fully clothed
in hair and capable of running at once, and with their eyes open, the yiiung of
the Rabbit* arc blind, naked, and helpless.