One of the most interesting aspects of North American wildlife is the wide diversity of rabbit species. The most common rabbit species in the Eastern and Midwestern US is the Eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), but it only one many North American rabbits. The genus of cottontails, Sylvilagus, includes many regional and specialized forms. In the Allegheny mountains, there are Appalachian cottontails (S. obscurus), and in parts of New England and New York State, one can find the New England cottontail (S. trasitionalis). In the West, we have desert cottontails (S. audubonii) and the mountain cottontail (S. nutallii) in the interior, and the brush rabbit (S. bachmani) along the Pacific coast.
However, those are pretty banal bunnies. Over the past week or so, though, I’ve seen the video clip from the CBC showing a swamp rabbit swimming strongly to evade predators, So I thought I would take some time to talk about our “water rabbits,” the two species of cottontail have evolved to live in the Southeastern swamps and marshes.
From Southeastern Virginia to Florida and as far west as Mobile Bay, the short-eared marsh rabbit (S. palustris) lives makes its home among fresh and brackwater marshes and swamps. They live among the cattails and mangroves and thickets of black gum and magnolia. They tend to be smaller than Eastern cottontails, which can also appear in similar environments, and their tails are usually shorter and are almost never fully white.
The swamp rabbit (S. aquaticus) by contrast is the largest cottontail species, averaging double the mass of an Eastern cottontail. It is much larger than the marsh rabbit. The only states where both of these species are found are South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, but there isn’t much range overlap. This rabbit likes cypress swamps and lowland river floodplains. They range as far north as southern Illinois and Indiana, but they are particularly common in the Mississippi Delta.
These two species are considered sister taxa, and these two rabbits are placed in the subgenus Tapeti. This subgenus includes mostly cottontails from Mexico on south, and these two water rabbits are the only two members of these subgenus found in the United States. This classification has been determined through a limited mitochondrial DNA study.
Of course, I would like to see more studies of the various cottontail rabbits’ genomes, but this classification is the only one currently accepted.
I should note that one subspecies of marsh rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris hefneri), which is found in the Lower Keys of Florida, is considered an endangered species. It is named for Hugh Hefner, whose corporation donated a substantial sum to research this rabbit.
This rabbit is vulnerable because of predation by feral cats, as well as other invasive predators, such as boa constrictors and fire ants. Invasive plants have also destroyed the undergrowth that these rabbits use to hid from their predators. Many of these rabbits are also victims of traffic.
Maybe this rabbit would get better attention as an endangered species if conservationist played up its connection to Hugh Hefner. We could call it “The Campaign to Save the Real Playboy Bunny. ”
The swamp rabbit has a following among beagle houndsman in much of its range, and these rabbits are taken as monster trophies in much the same way that Eastern deer hunters who have hunted white-tails their whole lives will go west in search of a monster mule deer. The old way of hunting both swamp and marsh rabbits was to burn them out of their marsh grass hideouts, but wildlife management agencies regulate the hunting of both species.
So when you see that clip of the swamp rabbit swimming think of both of these rabbits. They are amazing creatures, perfectly adapted to living near water and using their strong swimming abilities to evade their most aggressive predators.
