Lagomorph Biology - Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation

Lagomorphs are a mammalian order which includes rabbits, hares and pikas. They are distributed throughout the world and are of both scientific and public interest as they are classified between endangered and pest species. In addition, some have a high economic value as important game species. In the last few decades, a huge amount of information was made available to the scientific community and resulted in remarkable advances on all aspects of Lagomorph biology. However, this information is dispersed in multiple scientific and non-scientific journals. This book provides an updated synthesis of the current knowledge on Lagomorph biology.

List of contents

Palaeontology and Evolution.- to the Lagomorpha.- Prehistoric and Historic Artificial Dispersal of Lagomorphs on the Mediterranean Islands.- The Lagomorph Fossil Record and the Origin of the European Rabbit.- Inferring the Evolutionary History of the European Rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) from Molecular Markers.- Phylogenetic Aspects of Nuclear and Mitochondrial Gene-Pool Characteristics of South and North African Cape Hares (Lepus capensis) and European Hares (Lepus europaeus).- Population Ecology and Dynamics.- The World of Pikas.- When? Where? and for How Long? Census Design Considerations for an Alpine Lagomorph, the Collared Pika (Ochotona collaris).- Weather Effects on Reproduction, Survival, and Body Mass of European Rabbits in a Temperate Zone Habitat.- Ecosystem Engineering Effects of European Rabbits in a Mediterranean Habitat.- Forest-Fire Regime: The Missing Link to Understand Snowshoe Hare Population Fluctuations?.- Introduced Lagomorphs as a Threat to "Native" Lagomorphs: The Case of the Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) in Northern Italy.- Testing Multiple Hypotheses to Identify Causes of the Decline of a Lagomorph Species: The New England Cottontail as a Case Study.- Physiology and Behaviour.- Many Common Odour Cues and (at Least) One Pheromone Shaping the Behaviour of Young Rabbits.- Mother-Young and Within-Litter Relations in the European Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus.- Fertility and Infertility in the European Hare Lepus europaeus in Australia.- A Review of Competition between Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and Hares (Lepus europaeus).- Diseases.- European Brown Hare Syndrome.- How Many Caliciviruses are there in Rabbits? A Review on RHDV and Correlated Viruses.- Geographic and Seasonal Variation in the Impact of Rabbit HaemorrhagicDisease on European Rabbits, Oryctolagus cuniculus, and Rabbit Damage in Australia.- Conservation and Management.- Conservation of Endangered Lagomorphs.- Managing the European Rabbit: Converging Interests Between Australian Research for Rabbit Control and European Research for their Conservation.- Improving Rabbit Restocking Success: A Review of Field Experiments in France.- Recovering the Endangered Riparian Brush rabbit (Sylvilagus bachmani riparius): Reproduction and Growth in Confinement and Survival after Translocation.- Conservation of Critically Endangered Lagomorphs: The Tehuantepec Jackrabbit (Lepus flavigularis) as an Example.- A Review of the Biology and Conservation of the Amami Rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi).- Concluding Remarks.- Overview of Lagomorph Research: What we have learned and what we still need to do.

Summary

Lagomorphs are a mammalian order which includes rabbits, hares and pikas. They are distributed throughout the world and are of both scientific and public interest as they are classified between endangered and pest species. In addition, some have a high economic value as important game species. In the last few decades, a huge amount of information was made available to the scientific community and resulted in remarkable advances on all aspects of Lagomorph biology. However, this information is dispersed in multiple scientific and non-scientific journals. This book provides an updated synthesis of the current knowledge on Lagomorph biology.

Additional text

From the reviews:
"This volume presents 26 original articles that address issues involving lagomorph evolution, ecology, physiology, behavior, and conservation. The articles are all scholarly in nature … clearly, this book is meant for the small audience of researchers in the field. … Useful for libraries that support specialized research in lagomorph biology. Summing Up: Recommended. Researchers/faculty." (F. T. Kuserk, CHOICE, Vol. 46 (01), September, 2008)
"Lagomorph Biology: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation nicely illustrates that lagomorphs represent a diverse group of mammals rich with tractable research problems and, more importantly, ripe for exposure to new researchers asking new questions. Because this perspective is rare, the publication of this book in itself is a tremendous success for lagomorph researchers. … Overall, the papers are of high quality, the book is well edited, and the included illustrations are good." (Brian P. Kraatz, Journal of Mammalian Evolution, Vol. 15, 2008)

“This book was compiled and contains 26 contributions from 70 authors. … presents recent advances in research pertaining to pikas, hares and rabbits. … the recent work on genetics and perspectives in improving biology and ecology knowledge of numerous species are developed. This very interesting book also contains an appendix accompanied by the geographical distribution and complete list of species with their conservation status.” (Michel Cuisin and Christiane Denys, Mammalia, Vol. 73 (3), 2009)

Report

From the reviews:
"This volume presents 26 original articles that address issues involving lagomorph evolution, ecology, physiology, behavior, and conservation. The articles are all scholarly in nature ... clearly, this book is meant for the small audience of researchers in the field. ... Useful for libraries that support specialized research in lagomorph biology. Summing Up: Recommended. Researchers/faculty." (F. T. Kuserk, CHOICE, Vol. 46 (01), September, 2008)
"Lagomorph Biology: Evolution, Ecology, and Conservation nicely illustrates that lagomorphs represent a diverse group of mammals rich with tractable research problems and, more importantly, ripe for exposure to new researchers asking new questions. Because this perspective is rare, the publication of this book in itself is a tremendous success for lagomorph researchers. ... Overall, the papers are of high quality, the book is well edited, and the included illustrations are good." (Brian P. Kraatz, Journal of Mammalian Evolution, Vol. 15, 2008)
"This book was compiled and contains 26 contributions from 70 authors. ... presents recent advances in research pertaining to pikas, hares and rabbits. ... the recent work on genetics and perspectives in improving biology and ecology knowledge of numerous species are developed. This very interesting book also contains an appendix accompanied by the geographical distribution and complete list of species with their conservation status." (Michel Cuisin and Christiane Denys, Mammalia, Vol. 73 (3), 2009)

Product details

• Assisted by: Paulo C. Alves (Editor), Nun Ferrand (Editor), Nuno Ferrand (Editor), Klaus Hackländer (Editor)
• Publisher: Springer, Berlin
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 13.10.2010
• EAN: 9783642091520
• ISBN: 978-3-642-09152-0
• No. of pages: 414
• Dimensions: 208 mm x 24 mm x 297 mm
• Weight: 1135 g
• Illustrations: XVIII, 414 p. 78 illus., 3 illus. in color.
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Biology > Zoology; C, Ökologie, Biosphäre, Ecology, Zoology & animal sciences, Biomedical and Life Sciences, Animal Ecology, Zoology, Taxonomy & systematics, Biological Taxonomy, Animal taxonomy, Animal systematics, Animal Systematics/Taxonomy/Biogeography, Evolutionary Theory