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Results for cottontail rabbit
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The noun has one meaning:
Meaning #1:
common small rabbit of North America having grayish or brownish fur and a tail with a white underside; a host for Ixodes pacificus and Ixodes scapularis (Lyme disease ticks)
Synonyms: wood rabbit, cottontail
| Cottontail rabbits[1] | ||||||||||||
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Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus
floridanus)
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| Lepus sylvaticus Bachman, 1837 (=Lepus sylvaticus floridanus J. Allen, 1890) |
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16, see text |
The cottontail rabbits are the 16 lagomorph species in the genus Sylvilagus, found in the Americas.
In appearance most cottontail rabbits closely resemble the wild European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus). Most members of the genus have a stub tail with a white underside that shows when they are retreating, giving them their name "cottontails." However, this feature is not present in all cottontails (for example, the underside of the Brush Rabbit's tail is grey), nor is it unique to the genus (for example, the European Rabbit also has a white scut).
The genus is widely distributed across North America, though most species are confined to particular regions. Most (though not all) species live in nests called forms, and all have altricial young.
Cottontail rabbits show a greater resistance to myxomatosis than European rabbits.[2]
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![]() | Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/ Read more | |
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