The Amami rabbit, Pentalagus furnessi, also known as the Ryukyu rabbit, is a dark-furred rabbit found only on Amami Oshima and Tokunoshima, two small islands between southern Kyushu and Okinawa in Japan. Often called a living fossil, it is a remnant of ancient rabbits that once lived on the Asian mainland and died out there. The average weight is 2.5 to 2.8 kilograms. It is a nocturnal forest-dweller that sleeps by day in hidden places such as caves and breeds twice a year, in late March to May and in September to December, with one or two young each time. It feeds on more than 29 plant species, mostly sprouts, young shoots and acorns, eating Japanese pampas grass in summer and the acorns of the pasania tree in winter, and it prefers areas between mature and young forest. Habitat destruction from logging, agriculture and housing, together with invasive mongooses, feral cats and dogs, has driven its decline.
Facts
Classification
System (Realm) ThreatsBiological Resource Use 2 ThreatsInvasive and Other Problematic Species, Genes and Diseases 2 Living or Extinct Conservation Status Activity Pattern Comparison
CITES Appendix Connections
Child Taxon Of
Source Amami rabbit (Wikipedia)
In Biome
Source Amami rabbit (Wikipedia)
In the Other Atlases
Found In
Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.
Source Amami rabbit (Wikipedia)LeadQuote, Lead
which is found only on Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima, two small islands between southern Kyūshū and Okinawa in Japan
Sources
1. Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology: Pentalagus furnessi
Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of ZoologyConservation Status
IUCN Red List Endangered
Conservation Status, cites appendix
CITES No special status
Food Habits
Primary Diet herbivore herbivore folivore folivore granivore granivore coprophage coprophage
Behavior, Key Behaviors
nocturnal nocturnal
Habitat
Habitat Regions tropical tropical terrestrial terrestrial
View the Source 2. Amami rabbit (Wikipedia)
Lead
which is found only on Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima, two small islands between southern Kyūshū and Okinawa in Japan
Threats
Habitat destruction, such as forest clearing for commercial logging, agriculture space, and residential areas, is the most detrimental activity on the distribution of these rabbits.
Threats, threats
The Amami rabbit also faces huge threats from the invasive predators, being a major cause for the decline in population size.
Lead, living species
The Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi), also known as the Ryukyu rabbit, is a dark-furred species of rabbit which is found only on Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima, two small islands between southern Kyūshū and Okinawa in Japan.
In Biome: Temperate Forest, Distribution and habitat
The ideal habitat for these rabbits is in an area between mature and young forests.
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