Editing Hare (section)

==Biology==

Hares are swift animals and can run up to {{convert|80|km/h|abbr=on}} over short distances.<ref>{{cite book| publisher = IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), Lagomorph Specialist Group| isbn = 2831700191| last1 = Chapman| first1 = Joseph| last2 = Flux | first2 = John | title = Rabbits, Hares and Pikas : Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan | date = 1990|page=2}}</ref> Over longer distances,  the [[European hare]] (''Lepus europaeus'') can run up to {{convert|35|mph|order=flip|abbr=on|round=5}}.<ref>{{cite book| publisher = National Geographic Books| isbn = 9780792259367| last1 = McKay| first1 = George| first2 = Karen|last2= McGhee| title = National Geographic Encyclopedia of Animals| url = https://archive.org/details/nationalgeograph00kare| url-access = registration| date = 10 October 2006|page=[https://archive.org/details/nationalgeograph00kare/page/68 68]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Vu |first=Alan |title=''Lepus europaeus'': European hare |url=http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Lepus_europaeus.html |access-date=9 January 2013 |work=Animal Diversity Web |publisher=University of Michigan Museum of Zoology}}</ref>  The five species of jackrabbits found in central and western North America are able to run at {{convert|40|mph|km/h|order=flip|abbr=on|round=5}} over longer distances, and can leap up to {{convert|3|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} at a time.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/jackrabbit/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100207174802/http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/jackrabbit/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 7, 2010 |title=Jackrabbits, Jackrabbit Pictures, Jackrabbit Facts - National Geographic |date=11 April 2010 |publisher=Animals.nationalgeographic.com |access-date=2013-01-12}}</ref>
 
Normally a shy animal, the European brown hare changes its behavior in spring, when it can be seen in daytime chasing other hares. This appears to be competition between males (called ''bucks'') to attain [[dominance (ethology)|dominance]] for breeding. During this spring frenzy, animals of both sexes can be seen "boxing", one hare striking another with its paws. This behavior gives rise to the idiom "[[mad as a March hare]]".<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Collins|title=Definition of 'March hare'|url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/march-hare}}</ref> This is present not only in intermale competition, but also among females (called ''does'') toward males to prevent copulation.<ref>{{cite journal|year=1984|title=The myth of the mad March hare|journal=Nature|volume=309|issue=5968|pages=549–550|author=Holly, A.J.F.|author2=Greenwood, P.J.|name-list-style=amp|doi=10.1038/309549a0|pmid=6539424|bibcode=1984Natur.309..549H |s2cid=4275486 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author=Flux, J.E.C.|title=Myths and mad March hares|journal=Nature|volume=325|issue=6106|year=1987|pages=737–738 |doi=10.1038/325737a0|pmid=3821863|bibcode=1987Natur.325..737F |s2cid=4280664 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Hares, like all [[leporid]]s, have jointed, or [[Cranial kinesis#Hares|kinetic]], skulls, unique among mammals. 

===Differences from rabbits===
{{Main|Rabbit}}

Hares are generally larger than rabbits, with longer ears, and have black markings on their fur. They have 48 chromosomes,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hsu |first=T. C. |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/851820869 |title=An Atlas of Mammalian Chromosomes : Volume 1 |date=1967 |publisher=Springer New York |others=Kurt Benirschke |isbn=978-1-4615-6422-5 |location=New York, NY |oclc=851820869}}</ref> while rabbits have 44.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Painter |first=Theophilus S. |date=1926 |title=Studies in mammalian spermatogenesis VI. The chromosomes of the rabbit |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jmor.1050430102 |journal=Journal of Morphology |language=en |volume=43 |issue=1 |pages=1–43 |doi=10.1002/jmor.1050430102 |s2cid=85002717 |issn=0362-2525}}</ref> Hares have not been domesticated, while some rabbits are raised for food and kept as [[pet]]s.

Some rabbits live and give birth underground in burrows, with many burrows in an area forming a warren.  Other rabbits and hares live and give birth in simple forms (shallow depression or flattened nest of grass) above the ground.  Hares usually do not live in groups. Young hares are adapted to the lack of physical protection, relative to that afforded by a burrow, by being born fully furred and with eyes open. They are hence [[precocial]], able to fend for themselves soon after birth. By contrast, rabbits are [[altricial]], being born blind and hairless.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Langley|first1=Liz|title=What's the Difference Between Rabbits and Hares?|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141219-rabbits-hares-animals-science-mating-courtship/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220122938/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/12/141219-rabbits-hares-animals-science-mating-courtship/|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 20, 2014|website=National Geographic|date=19 December 2014}}</ref>

===Diet===
{{Further|Cecotrope}}

Easily digestible food is processed in the gastrointestinal tract, expelling the waste as regular feces. For nutrients that are harder to extract, hares, like all [[lagomorpha|lagomorphs]], ferment fiber in the [[cecum]] and expel the mass as [[cecotrope]]s, which they ingest again, a practice called [[cecotrope|cecotrophy]] or refection. The cecotropes are absorbed in the small intestine to use the nutrients.<ref name="britannica"/>

===Classification===
{{see also|List of leporids}}
[[File:Jack Rabbit Ears.jpg|thumb|right|Hare]]
[[File:Brooklyn Museum - California Hare - John J. Audubon.jpg|thumb|Brooklyn Museum - California Hare - John J. Audubon]]
[[File:Lepus capensis arabicus-cropped.jpg|thumb|Cape hare (''Lepus capensis'')]]
[[File:Common and irish hare.jpg|thumb|[[European hare]] (above) and [[mountain hare]]]]
[[File:Alaskan Hare Skeleton.jpg|thumb|Alaskan hare's skeletal system ([[Museum of Osteology]])]]
* '''Genus ''Lepus'''''<ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Lagomorpha | id = 13500099 | pages = 195–205}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |last=Database |first=Mammal Diversity |title=Mammal Diversity Database |date=2022-02-01 |doi=10.5281/zenodo.5945626 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/5945626 |access-date=2022-03-24}}</ref>
** Subgenus ''Macrotolagus''
*** [[Antelope jackrabbit]], ''Lepus alleni''
** Subgenus ''Poecilolagus''
*** [[Snowshoe hare]], ''Lepus americanus''
** Subgenus ''Lepus''
*** [[Arctic hare]], ''Lepus arcticus''
*** [[Alaskan hare]], ''Lepus othus''
*** [[Mountain hare]], ''Lepus timidus''
** Subgenus ''Proeulagus''
*** [[Black jackrabbit]], ''Lepus insularis''
*** [[Desert hare]], ''Lepus tibetanus''
*** [[Tolai hare]], ''Lepus tolai''
** Subgenus ''Eulagos''
*** [[Broom hare]], ''Lepus castroviejoi''
*** [[Yunnan hare]], ''Lepus comus''
*** [[Korean hare]], ''Lepus coreanus''
*** [[European hare]], ''Lepus europaeus''
*** [[Manchurian hare]], ''Lepus mandshuricus''
*** [[Ethiopian highland hare]], ''Lepus starcki''
** Subgenus ''Sabanalagus''
*** [[Ethiopian hare]], ''Lepus fagani''
*** [[African savanna hare]], ''Lepus victoriae''
** Subgenus ''Indolagus''
*** [[Hainan hare]], ''Lepus hainanus''
*** [[Indian hare]], ''Lepus nigricollis''
*** [[Burmese hare]], ''Lepus peguensis''
** Subgenus ''Sinolagus''
***[[Chinese hare]], ''Lepus sinensis''
** Subgenus ''Tarimolagus''
*** [[Yarkand hare]], ''Lepus yarkandensis''
** ''[[Incertae sedis]]''
*** [[Tamaulipas jackrabbit]], ''Lepus altamirae''
*** [[Japanese hare]], ''Lepus brachyurus''
***[[Black-tailed jackrabbit]], ''Lepus californicus''
*** [[White-sided jackrabbit]], ''Lepus callotis''
*** [[Cape hare]], ''Lepus capensis''
*** [[Corsican hare]], ''Lepus corsicanus''
*** [[Tehuantepec jackrabbit]], ''Lepus flavigularis''
*** [[Granada hare]], ''Lepus granatensis''
*** [[Abyssinian hare]], ''Lepus habessinicus''
*** [[Mediterranean hare]], ''Lepus mediterraneus''
*** [[Woolly hare]], ''Lepus oiostolus''
*** [[West Sahara hare]], ''Lepus saharae''
*** [[Scrub hare]], ''Lepus saxatilis''
*** [[Moroccan hare]], ''Lepus schlumbergeri''
*** [[White-tailed jackrabbit]], ''Lepus townsendii''