Coney

Open encyclopedia reference

The New England cottontail (Sylvilagus transitionalis), also known as the gray rabbit, brush rabbit, wood hare, wood rabbit, or cooney, is a species of cottontail rabbit that appears in fragmented populations across New England and the state of New York, specifically from southern Maine to southern New York. This species bears a close resemblance to the eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), which has been introduced in much of the New England cottontail home range. The eastern cottontail is now more common in it. In 2006, it was estimated that the current area of occupancy in its historic range is 12,180 km2 (4,700 sq mi) - some 86% less than the occupied range in 1960. Because of this decrease in this species' numbers and habitat, the New England cottontail is a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Cottontail hunting has been restricted in some areas where the eastern and New England cottontail species coexist in order to protect the remaining New England cottontail population.

Wikipedia contributors, New England cottontail; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T01:20:07.147964+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Sylvilagus transitionalis (Bangs, 1895)

Name authority

(Bangs, 1895)

Common name

Coney

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Lagomorpha

Family

Leporidae

Genus

Sylvilagus

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. genusSylvilagus Gray, 1867
14. speciesSylvilagus transitionalis (Bangs, 1895)

Close classified relatives

These entries share the source’s genus, Sylvilagus. 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=180127 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.

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:53N9L. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.