Palaeolagus
{{Short description|Extinct genus of lagomorph}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = Late Eocene to Oligocene,{{cite book |editor=Palmer, D.|year=1999 |title= The Marshall Illustrated Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Animals|publisher= Marshall Editions|location=London|page= 285|isbn= 1-84028-152-9}} {{fossilrange|35|23}}
| image = Paleolagus.jpg
| image_caption = Palaeolagus haydeni
| taxon = Palaeolagus
| authority = Leidy, 1856
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision =
- {{extinct}}P. burkei
- {{extinct}}P. haydeni
- {{extinct}}P. hemirhizis
- {{extinct}}P. hypsodus
- {{extinct}}P. intermedius
- {{extinct}}P. philoi
- {{extinct}}P. primus
- {{extinct}}P. temnodon
}}
Palaeolagus ('ancient hare') is an extinct genus of lagomorph.{{cite web | last = Haaramo | first = Mikko | title = Mikko's Phylogeny archive | date = 2008-03-11 | url = http://www.helsinki.fi/~mhaaramo/metazoa/deuterostoma/chordata/synapsida/eutheria/lagomorpha/leporidae.html
| access-date = 2009-02-01}} Palaeolagus lived in the Eocene{{cite web | url=http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&taxon_no=49656&max_interval=Eocene&country=United%20States&state=Nebraska&is_real_user=1&basic=yes&type=view&match_subgenera=1 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121232926/http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&taxon_no=49656&max_interval=Eocene&country=United%20States&state=Nebraska&is_real_user=1&basic=yes&type=view&match_subgenera=1 | url-status=dead | archive-date=January 21, 2022 | title=Fossilworks: Gateway to the Paleobiology Database }} and Oligocene epochs of North America,
Taxonomy
The fossil remains of rabbits are scanty and those specimens that have been found are often too fragmentary to determine satisfactory the relationship with living forms. Most recent phylogenetic analysis have recovered it as a close relative of the last common ancestor of living Leporidae and Ochotonidae, as it displays a mosaic of characters typical of both groups.{{Cite journal|last1=Wolniewicz|first1=Andrzej S.|last2=Fostowicz-Frelik|first2=Łucja|date=2021|title=CT-Informed Skull Osteology of Palaeolagus haydeni (Mammalia: Lagomorpha) and Its Bearing on the Reconstruction of the Early Lagomorph Body Plan|journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution|language=English|volume=9|doi=10.3389/fevo.2021.634757|issn=2296-701X|doi-access=free}} The bones of rabbits and hares are lightweight and fragile in structure, and so they are not easily preserved as fossils. Most of the species are inhabitants of uplands where conditions are not ideal for preservation. In a few deposits, rabbit remains seem numerous but many fossil species are known only from a few teeth and bones.
Description
The {{convert|25|cm|in}} long creature closely resembled modern rabbits. They were common herbivorous inhabitants of the savanna, plains and woodlands of North America 30 million years ago.{{cn|date=December 2023}}
Gallery
File:Palaeolagus haydeni skull.jpg|left|P. haydeni skull
File:Palaeolagus NT small.jpg|left|Restoration of P. haydeni
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Lagomorpha Genera|Le.|state=collapsed}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q2609484}}
{{Portal|Paleontology}}
Category:Paleogene mammals of North America
Category:Prehistoric lagomorphs
Category:Prehistoric placental genera
Category:Oligocene extinctions
Category:Fossil taxa described in 1856
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