Chordate Zoology - textbook - Y. V. Tsaryk - 2013

Chapter 5. SUPERCLASS TETRAPODS (LAND VERTEBRATES) TETRAPODA, seu QUADRIPEDA.

ANAMNIOTES (ANAMNIA) AND AMNIOTES (AMNIOTA)

5.4. CLASS MAMMALIA, or BEASTS, MAMMALIA, seu THERIA

5.4.4. Systematics and characteristics of representatives of the main orders of the class Mammalia

5.4.4.2. Subclass Beasts Theria

5.4.4.2.18. Order Lagomorpha (lagomorphs Leporiformes)

Lagomorphs were previously grouped with rodents; later, the convergent nature of this similarity was established; their relationship to other orders remains undetermined. Lagomorphs differ from rodents in The Structure of the bony palate, which forms a narrow transverse bridge between the upper tooth rows, and the presence of upper

double incisors (Duplicidentata). The pelage is diverse, ranging from thick and fluffy to relatively sparse and bristle-like. They are herbivores, feeding mainly on fiber-rich vegetative parts of plants. The order comprises two families and 80 species.

The pika family Ochotonidae comprises small, short-eared, and short-legged animals distributed in the mountainous regions and foothill plains of Asia, Southeastern Europe, and Northwestern America; the northern pika Ochotona hyperborea ranges as far as the Arctic Circle. Among them are burrowers and petrophiles. As with all animals that form colonial settlements, acoustic signaling is well developed. They make stores of plants, which they dry (hay) and hide under rocks or gather into haystacks.

The hare family Leporidae comprises animals with long hind legs and long ears. They do not store food. Sharp periodic fluctuations in population size are characteristic. Hares Lepus do not have permanent shelters, whereas rabbits Oryctolagus live in burrows. Hares give birth to fully sighted, furred young after a 50-day gestation period; young rabbits are born after a 30-day gestation. There are three species in Ukraine: the European hare (brown hare) Lepus europaeus, the mountain hare (white hare) Lepus timidus, and the European rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus. The latter species was introduced to Ukraine about 150 years ago from Southern Europe.