Tehuantepec Jackrabbit

Open encyclopedia reference

The Tehuantepec jackrabbit (Lepus flavigularis) (Spanish: liebre de Tehuantepec) is a medium-sized species of hare in the family Leporidae that is endemic to eastern Oaxaca, Mexico. It exists in three separated populations, living on grassy dunes and savannas, and is herbivorous, mainly eating grasses. It is not territorial. Most active at night, it will feed for most of the time and occasionally groom or socialize with other hares, spending the daytime resting on beds of grass or shrubs, or under nopales. They are polygynous and breed for most of the year, from February to December, producing one to four young per breeding season. Predators include snakes, dogs, cats, coyotes, and gray foxes. The Tehuantepec jackrabbit is the most endangered of the hares, with less than 300 mature individuals estimated as of 2019, and is threatened by various factors in its small distribution, including poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation, a small population size, and genetic isolation. Changing agricultural practices, loss of diversity in flora, and competition for food are also factors in the species' decline.

Wikipedia contributors, Tehuantepec jackrabbit; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T07:52:53.574861+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.

Identity & source status

Scientific name

Lepus flavigularis Wagner, 1844

Name authority

Wagner, 1844

Common name

Tehuantepec Jackrabbit

Rank

species

Accepted status

accepted

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Lagomorpha

Family

Leporidae

Genus

Lepus

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. genusLepus Linnaeus, 1758
14. speciesLepus flavigularis Wagner, 1844

Close classified relatives

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

Browse 43 records assigned to Leporidae.

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=625344 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:6PPZZ. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.