Sylvilagus, Gray, 1867

Christopher, Jass, N., Usa, J. J. & Usa, 2009, Pleistocene lagomorphs from Cathedral Cave, Nevada, PaleoBios 29 (1), pp. 1-12 : 4-5

Sylvilagus or Lepus sp.

Referred Specimens —See Appendix 1.

Description —Specimens identified as Sylvilagus or Lepus sp. are characterized by the presence of three (anterior, anteroexternal, and posteroexternal) reentrant folds on the p3. The presence of the anterior fold distinguishes these specimens from Ochotona , which also typically retains three reentrant folds on the p3. In most specimens the anterior and anteroexternal reentrants are simple with little crenulation, while the posteroexternal reentrant fold may or may not exhibit crenulations. Length and width of the p3s are listed in Appendix 1 and were graphed on a scatter plot used to evaluate if distinct size groupings exist ( Fig. 5).

Discussion— Sylvilagus audubonii , S. nuttalli , Lepus californicus , and L. townsendii all have modern ranges that include the region surrounding Cathedral Cave. One, all, or none of these taxa may be represented in Cathedral Cave. Previous authors noted that there is considerable difficulty in the identification of Lepus versus Sylvilagus (e.g., Kurtén and Anderson 1980) and that size overlap occurs ( Dalquest and Schultz 1992, Ramos 1999a). Because it would be necessary to invoke either geographic or evolutionary assumptions (i.e., constant size in the past relative to the modern) to separate these genera, no attempt was made to differentiate Lepus and Sylvilagus from Cathedral Cave (see discussion below).