Pronolagus saundersiae, Hewitt, 1927

Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2016, Leporidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 6 Lagomorphs and Rodents I, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 107-148 : 111

publication ID

https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6625539

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6625378

persistent identifier

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03822308-B743-FFFD-FFC0-FD19FEB1FF2E

treatment provided by

Carolina

scientific name

Pronolagus saundersiae
status

 

5. View Plate 5: Leporidae

Hewitt’s Red Rock Hare

Pronolagus saundersiae View in CoL

French: Lapin de Hewitt / German: Hewitt-Wollschwanzhase / Spanish: Liebre roja de Hewitt

Taxonomy. Pronolagus crassicaudatus saundersiae Hewitt, 1927 View in CoL ,

“Albany District,” Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Initially, P. saundersiae was included as a subspecies of P crassicaudatus . Later, P. saundersiae was included as a subspecies of P. rupestris but now has species status. Distribution of P. saundersiae does not overlap that of P. rupestris , but the eastern part of its distribution overlaps that of P crassicaudatus and the north-western part that of P. randensis . Monotypic.

Distribution. S & E South Africa (Western, Northern and Eastern Cape, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga provinces), Lesotho, and W Swaziland. View Figure

Descriptive notes. Head-body 380-540 mm, tail 50-115 mm, ear 80-110 mm, hindfoot 85-100 mm; weight 1.4-2.1 kg. Hewitt’s Red Rock Hare is medium-sized and has thick, dense, woolly fur. Dorsal pelage is grizzled brown anteriorly, rufous posteriorly, and bright rufous on rump. Flanks are pale, and ventral fur is pale rufous to whitish rufous. Head and ears are grayish brown, and cheeks are grayish white. Throat patch is brownish, and nuchal patch is rufous. Forelimbs are bright rufous, and hindlimbs are pale rufous. Tail is red or pale sandy. Fur color varies geographically.

Habitat. Solid rocks (“kopjes”) and rocky hillsides with boulders, where grassy or scrubby vegetation occurs. Rock crevices and boulders are essential habitat features, and gaps between them naturally fragment populations. Hewitt’s Red Rock Hare is generally found at higher elevations than Smith’s Red Rock Hare ( P. rupestris ) in South Africa.

Food and Feeding. There is no information available for this species.

Breeding. There is no information available for this species.

Activity patterns. There is no information available for this species.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. There is no information available for this species.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Hewitt’s Red Rock Hare is widely distributed and presumably has a large population. Overall population is estimated at more than 10,000 adults and predicted to decline at a rate of less than 10% during the next 20 years. Habitat loss has occurred over the past 100 years and is predicted to continue by less than 20% over the next 20 years due to commercial plantations.

Bibliography. Duthie & Robinson (1990), Friedmann & Daly (2004), Happold (2013c), Hoffmann & Smith (2005), Matthee & Robinson (1996), Matthee, Collins & Keith (2004b), Smith & Johnston (2008a), Smithers (1983), Whiteford (1995).

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Mammalia

Order

Lagomorpha

Family

Leporidae

Genus

Pronolagus

Loc

Pronolagus saundersiae

Don E. Wilson, Thomas E. Lacher, Jr & Russell A. Mittermeier 2016
2016
Loc

Pronolagus crassicaudatus saundersiae

Hewitt 1927
1927
GBIF Dataset (for parent article) Darwin Core Archive (for parent article) View in SIBiLS Plain XML RDF