Lepus

Lepus is a genus of mammals, family Leporidae, order Lagomorpha, comprising more than thirty recognized species commonly known as hares, with the mountain hare, Lepus timidus, as its type species, first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Hares are native to Africa, Eurasia and North America, and have additionally been introduced by humans to other regions. They are herbivores that live solitarily or in pairs, and their young, called leverets, are precocial, born fully furred with eyes open and able to fend for themselves shortly after birth, unlike the altricial young of rabbits. Larger than rabbits, with exaggerated ears, eyes and hind feet, hares can run at speeds up to 80 kilometers per hour over short distances, use their oversized ears to dissipate body heat, and shelter in ground depressions called forms rather than in burrows. All species in the genus carry 48 chromosomes.