Mediterranean hare

{{Short description|Species of mammal}}

{{speciesbox

| image = Die Säugthiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, mit Beschreibungen (Plate CCXXXIII.C) (8610040572).jpg

| image_caption = Drawing of Lepus mediterraneus

| genus = Lepus

| species = mediterraneus

| authority = J. A. Wagner, 1841

| synonyms = {{ubl|L. kabylicus {{small|de Winton, 1898}}|L. pallidior {{small|Barrett-Hamilton, 1898}} | L. tunetae {{small|de Winton, 1898}} | whitakeri {{small|O. Thomas, 1902}} | typicus {{small|Hilzheimer, 1906 [preoccupied]}} | sefranus {{small|O. Thomas, 1913}} | barcaeus {{small|Ghigi, 1920}} | pediaeus {{small|Cabrera, 1923}}}}

| synonyms_ref =

}}

The Mediterranean hare (Lepus mediterraneus), also known as the Northwest African hare and the Sardinian hare, is a species of mammal in the family Leporidae.{{cite journal |first1=Carmen |last1=Soria-Boix |first2=Maria P. |last2= Donat-Torres |first3=Hamid |last3=Rguibi Idrissi |first4=Vicente |last4=Urios|journal=Evolutionary Ecology Research| url=http://hdl.handle.net/10251/167876 | hdl=10251/167876 | title=Evolutionary ecology of hares (Lepus spp.) from northwestern Africa; the problem of cryptic species and the description of a new species (Lepus saharae sp. nov.) | date=September 2019 | volume=20 | pages=537–555 }} It was first described in 1841 by Johann Andreas Wagner.{{Cite journal |authorlink=Johann Andreas Wagner |last=Wagner |first=Johann Andreas |date=1841-03-17 |title=Gruppirung der Gattungen der Nager |journal=Gelehrte Anzeigen der Königlich Bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu München |volume=12 |issue=54 |pages=433–440 |language=de |via=HathiTrust |hdl=2027/mdp.39015039524528}} Later, it was reclassified as a subspecies of the Cape hare (Lepus capensis), but was split in 2019 along with the Moroccan hare (Lepus schlumbergeri) from central Morocco and the West Sahara hare (Lepus saharae) from southern Morocco. The species has many synonyms, and likely represents a species complex.{{Cite web |date=2025 |title=Lepus mediterraneus J. A. Wagner, 1841 |url=https://www.mammaldiversity.org/taxon/1006761 |access-date=2025-03-07 |website=ASM Mammal Diversity Database}}