Lepus capensis Linnaeus 1758

Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn, 2005, Order Lagomorpha, Mammal Species of the World: a Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3 rd Edition), Volume 1, Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, pp. 185-211 : 196

Lepus capensis Linnaeus 1758

Lepus capensis Linnaeus 1758 , Syst. Nat., 10th ed., Vol. 1: 58 .

Type Locality: "ad Cap. b. Spei" [ South Africa, Cape of Good Hope].

Vernacular Names: Cape Hare.

Synonyms: Lepus barcaeus Ghigi 1920 .

Subspecies: :

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. capensis Linnaeus 1758

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. aquilo Thomas and Wroughton 1907

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. carpi Lundholm 1955

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. granti Thomas and Schwann 1904

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. aegyptius Desmarest 1822

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. hawkeri Thomas 1901

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. isabellinus Cretzschmar 1826

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. sinaiticus Ehrenberg 1833

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. arabicus Ehrenberg 1833

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. schlumbergeri Remy-St. Loup 1894

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. atlanticus de Winton 1898

Subspecies Lepus capensis subsp. whitakeri Thomas 1902

Distribution: As construed in the past, a single species ( capensis sensu lato) inhabits Africa and the Near East in two separate, non-forested areas: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, S Angola, S Zambia (?), Mozambique; and to the north, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, countries of the Sahel and Sahara, and N Africa; thence eastward through the Sinai to the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, S Syria, S Israel and W and S Iraq, west of the Euphrates River ( Harrison and Bates, 1991; Hufnagl, 1972; Kingdon, 1997; Kowalski and Rezebik-Kowalska, 1991; Smith, 1985). However, there is no evidence of gene flow between the South African populations, and those "capensis" in East, West and North Africa, and the intervening areas are inhabited by other species of Lepus , particularly L. microtis ). Herein, the name capensis will be restricted to the South African hare, and other names applied to East and North African, and Arabian-Near Eastern hares. This informal subdivision of capensis sensu lato creates four groups that might be considered as distinct species. However, pending sufficient data at this point to support a formal revision, this arrangement best reflects the poorly known relationships of the taxa.

Conservation: IUCN – Lower Risk (lc).

Discussion: Subgenus Proeulagus ( Gureev, 1964:202) or Eulagos ( Averianov, 1998) . Includes arabicus; formerly included europaeus , corsicanus , granatensis , and tolai ; see Corbet (1978 c: 71), Angermann (1983:20), and Harrison and Bates (1991). Formerly included habessinicus , but Azzaroli-Puccetti (1987 a, b) considered habessinicus distinct. The enigmatic form connori, often placed in capensis ( Corbet, 1978 c; Harrison and Bates, 1991) is provisionally placed in europaeus on the basis of pelage characteristics; see Angermann (1983:19). Most Russian authors consider tolai (including tibetanus ) a distinct species; see Gromov and Baranova (1981:65); but also see Pavlinov and Rossolimo (1987:229). Sludskii et al. (1980:58, 85) indicated an area of sympatry between europaeus and tolai in Kazakhstan. Sokolov and Orlov (1980:85) considered tibetanus a distinct species. Arabian forms may be specifically distinct ( Flux and Angermann, 1990); Angermann (1983:19) noted pronounced "size" groups within arabicus. These are arabicus (largest, gray), cheesmani (with insular atallahi) (smaller, buffy), and omanensis (with insular jeffreyi)(smallest, gray). See also Lepus tibetanus .