Lepus capensis Linnaeus, 1758

Robert S. Hoffmann, 1993, Order Lagomorpha, Mammal Species of the World (2 nd Edition), Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 807-827 : 815-816

Lepus capensis Linnaeus, 1758 . Sys. Nat., 10th ed., 1:58 .

TYPE LOCALITY: "ad Cap. b. Spei" [ South Africa, Cape of Good Hope] .

DISTRIBUTION: Africa in two separate, non-forested areas: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, S Angola, S Zambia (?), Mozambique; and to the north, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, countries of the Sahel and Sahara, and N Africa; thence eastward through the Sinai to the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, S Syria, S Israel and W and S Iraq, west of the Euphrates River.

STATUS: Populations have declined locally due to habitat alteration, but most are not threatened so far as is known ( Flux and Angermann, 1990).

SYNONYMS: abbotti Hollister, 1918; abyssinicus Lefebvre, 1850; aegyptius Desmarest, 1822; aethiopicus Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1832; aquilo Thomas and Wroughton, 1907; arabicus Ehrenberg, 1833; arenarius I. Geoffroy, 1826; atallahi Harrison, 1972; atlanticus de Winton, 1898; barcaeus Ghigi, 1920; bedfordi Roberts, 1932; berberanus Heuglin, 1861; carpi Lundholm, 1955; centralis Thomas, 1903; cheesmani Thomas, 1921; crispii Drake-Brockman, 1911; dinderus Setzer, 1956; ermeloensis Roberts, 1932; granti Thomas and Schwann, 1904; habessinicus Hemprich and Ehrenberg, 1832 ; hartensis Roberts, 1932; harterti Thomas, 1903; hawkeri Thomas, 1901; innesi de Winton, 1902; isabellinus Cretzschmar, 1826; jeffreyi Harrison, 1980; kabylicus de Winton, 1898; kalaharicus Dollman, 1910; langi Roberts, 1932; major Grill, 1860; mandatus Thomas, 1926; maroccanus Cabrera, 1907; narranus Thomas, 1926; ochropoides Roberts, 1929; ochropus Wagner, 1844; omanensis Thomas, 1894; pallidior Barrett-Hamilton, 1898; pediaeus Cabrera, 1923; rothschildi de Winton, 1902; salai Jentink, 1880; schlumbergeri Remy-St. Loup, 1894; sefranus Thomas, 1913; senegalensis ( Rochebrune, 1883); sherif Cabrera, 1906; sinaiticus Ehrenberg, 1833; somalensis Heuglin, 1861; tigrensis Blanford, 1869; tunetae de Winton, 1898; vernayi Roberts, 1932; whitakeri Thomas, 1902.

COMMENTS: Subgenus Proeulagus ( Gureev, 1964:202) . Includes arabicus; formerly included europaeus , corsicanus , granatensis , and tolai ; see Corbet (1978c:71), Angermann (1983:20), and Harrison and Bates (1991). Includes habessinicus , but see AzzaroliPuccetti (1987a, b) who considered habessinicus as distinct. The enigmatic form connori, often placed in capensis ( Corbet, 1978c; Harrison and Bates, 1991) is provisionally placed in europaeus on the basis of pelage characteristics; see Angermann (1983:19). Most Russian authors consider tolai (including tibetanus ) a distinct species; see Gromov and Baranova (1981:65); but also see Pavlinov and Rossolimo (1987:229). Sludskii et al. (1980:58, 85) indicated an area of sympatry between europaeus and tolai in Kazakhstan. Sokolov and Orlov (1980:85) considered tibetanus a distinct species. Some Arabian forms may be specifically distinct ( Flux and Angermann, 1990); Angermann (1983: 19) noted pronounced "size" groups within arabicus. These are arabicus (largest, gray), cheesmani (with insular atallahi) (smaller, buffy), and omanensis (with insular jeffreyi) (smallest, gray).