Greater Red Rockhare

Open encyclopedia reference

The Natal red rock hare or greater red rock hare (Pronolagus crassicaudatus) is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae (rabbits and hares). It has a slightly grizzled, grayish brown head and reddish brown upperparts. The dense fur is thick and rougher than other rock hares. It is endemic to Africa, and found in southeastern provinces of South Africa (Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal), eastern Lesotho, Eswatini (Highveld and Lumbobo), and southern Mozambique (Maputo Province). It is a herbivore, primarily feeding on grass. It breeds throughout the year, and one or two pups are usually born in the summer. It is rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species.

Wikipedia contributors, Natal red rock hare; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T08:38:47.028336+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Pronolagus crassicaudatus (I. Geoffroy, 1832)

Name authority

(I. Geoffroy, 1832)

Common name

Greater Red Rockhare

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Lagomorpha

Family

Leporidae

Genus

Pronolagus

Extinction status

Recorded extant

Classification family tree

Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.

1. domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
2. kingdomAnimalia
3. phylumChordata
4. subphylumVertebrata
5. infraphylumGnathostomata
6. parvphylumOsteichthyes
7. megaclassTetrapoda
8. classMammalia Linnaeus, 1758
9. subclassTheria Parker & Haswell, 1897
10. infraclassEutheria Gill, 1872
11. orderLagomorpha Brandt, 1855
12. familyLeporidae Fischer, 1817
13. genusPronolagus Lyon, 1904
14. speciesPronolagus crassicaudatus (I. Geoffroy, 1832)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Pronolagus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.

Browse 43 records assigned to Leporidae.

Names & synonyms

Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.

Documented distribution

Source distribution statements, not a complete range map. A listed locality is not necessarily a place of origin.

Source literature & publication evidence

References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.

1. https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=625361 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references

Origins, evidence & remaining research

Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.

Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.

Dataset citation & attribution

This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11

Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.

Stable key: col:4MT9X. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.