Common tapeti

Appearance

The common tapeti is a small- to medium-sized rabbit. It has a head-body length of 320 mm, a tail that is 21 mm, hind feet measuring 71 mm, ears that are 54 mm, and it weighs an average of 934 grams. The color of its back is brown with a speckled appearance, and it has a rufous spot on its neck. Its belly and tail underside are also rufous. It has six mammae. Two different karyotypes have been reported for this species: 2n=36, FN=68; and 2n=40, FN=76.

Distribution

The common tapeti occurs in tropical rain forests, deciduous forests, and second growth forests in Mexico and Central America, as well as pastures surrounding forest habitat. Its range extends from southern Tamaulipas in Mexico, south along the eastern coast of Mexico, through Guatemala, possibly El Salvador, Honduras, eastern Nicaragua, eastern Costa Rica, and Panama. It occurs through the northern half of South America, including Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina, and much of Brazil. The southern tip of its known distribution occurs in Tucuman province. It occurs at elevations from sea level to 4,800 m.
It is the only leporid species found in most of its range.

Behavior

It is a solitary, nocturnal animal, usually seen after nightfall or before dawn, feeding on grass and browse. It has also been recorded eating "Harrya chromapes", a bolete mushroom. It is found in forested habitats, close to swamps and along river edges, and in disturbed areas, such as gardens and plantations.

Habitat

Rabbits build nests built of dry grasses above the ground to rear their young. They have a central chamber and three or four smaller chambers at the end of a corridor. The gestation period varies with the geographical location. Rabbits in Chiapas, Mexico gestate for about 28 days, and have three to eight offspring, while rabbits in the Páramos of the Andes gestate for 44 days, and have an average litter size of 1.2. Both of these populations breed year-round.

Like its California relative, the brush rabbit, the common tapeti is a natural reservoir for the "myxoma" virus. This relationships was discovered by Brazilian physician Henrique de Beaurepaire Rohan Aragão in the 1940s. The virus causes a benign cutaneous fibroma in its hosts, but it causes the lethal disease myxomatosis, in European rabbits.