How big does a Riverine rabbit get? Here is an overview over the average adult age:
A grown Riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis) reaches an average size of 43 cm (1′ 5″).
When born, they have an average size of 0 cm (0′ 0″). A full-grown exemplary reaches roughly 1.75 kg (3.86 lbs). On birth they have a weight of 42 grams (0.09 lbs). A Riverine rabbit has 1 babies at once. The Riverine rabbit (genus: Bunolagus) is a member of the family Leporidae.
As a reference: Humans reach an average body size of 1.65m (5′ 5″) while carrying 62 kg (137 lbs). A human woman is pregnant for 280 days (40 weeks) and on average become 75 years old.
The riverine rabbit (Bunolagus monticularis), also known as the bushman rabbit or bushman hare, is one of the most endangered mammals in the world, with only around 500 living adults, and 1500 overall. This rabbit has an extremely limited distribution area, found only in the central and southern regions of the Karoo Desert of South Africa’s Northern Cape Province. It is the only member of the genus Bunolagus because of unique traits that separate it from the other lagomorphs in the genus Lepus. There is still controversy and debate between taxonomists over its classification. Many tests and karyotypic analysis has been performed on hares from the genus Lepus to compare the riverine rabbit to others that are classified as true hares.They have a diet which consists of mostly plants and vegetation, but their usual food sources are being diminished, causing a scarcity for their population. This food loss is also connected to other problems such as with forming burrows. A unique aspect of its biology is that females can only produce one offspring per year. This contributes to how it is classified as critically endangered, which is the most severe classification available. Other unique traits include being nocturnal, and producing two different types of droppings. Currently, there are conservation plans being enacted to help with its decreasing population and habitat.
Animals of the same family as a Riverine rabbit
We found other animals of the Leporidae family:
- Manchurian hare with 2 babies per litter
- Black-tailed jackrabbit with a size of 48.4 cm (1′ 8″)
- Mountain cottontail with a size of 32.4 cm (1′ 1″)
- European rabbit with a size of 40 cm (1′ 4″)
- Robust cottontail with a size of 39.4 cm (1′ 4″)
- African savanna hare with a size of 45 cm (1′ 6″)
- Korean hare with a size of 46.5 cm (1′ 7″)
- Tapeti with a size of 36.3 cm (1′ 3″)
- Eastern cottontail with a size of 37.2 cm (1′ 3″)
- Mexican cottontail with a size of 43.5 cm (1′ 6″)
Animals with the same size as a Riverine rabbit
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Riverine rabbit:
- Flat-headed cat with a size of 46.7 cm (1′ 7″)
- European polecat with a size of 35.9 cm (1′ 3″)
- Golden-crowned sifaka with a size of 47.5 cm (1′ 7″)
- Diana monkey with a size of 47 cm (1′ 7″)
- Bunyoro rabbit with a size of 47 cm (1′ 7″)
- Royal antelope with a size of 49.9 cm (1′ 8″)
- African savanna hare with a size of 45 cm (1′ 6″)
- Steppe polecat with a size of 43.5 cm (1′ 6″)
- Grandidier’s mongoose with a size of 35.9 cm (1′ 3″)
- Spotted linsang with a size of 35.4 cm (1′ 2″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Riverine rabbit
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (1) as a Riverine rabbit:
- Whiptail wallaby
- Aye-aye
- Six-banded armadillo
- Greater kudu
- Hildebrandt’s horseshoe bat
- Tickell’s bat
- Big-eared woolly bat
- Black crested gibbon
- Fin whale
- Goeldi’s marmoset
Animals with the same weight as a Riverine rabbit
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Bunolagus monticularis:
- Jamaican coney with a weight of 1.5 kilos (3.31 lbs)
- Rock-haunting ringtail possum with a weight of 1.88 kilos (4.14 lbs)
- Red-bellied lemur with a weight of 2.03 kilos (4.48 lbs)
- Red and white giant flying squirrel with a weight of 1.5 kilos (3.31 lbs)
- Chacoan naked-tailed armadillo with a weight of 1.49 kilos (3.28 lbs)
- Hainan hare with a weight of 1.52 kilos (3.35 lbs)
- Southern giant slender-tailed cloud rat with a weight of 1.84 kilos (4.06 lbs)
- Manchurian hare with a weight of 1.84 kilos (4.06 lbs)
- Haussa genet with a weight of 1.4 kilos (3.09 lbs)
- European rabbit with a weight of 1.59 kilos (3.51 lbs)