The antelope jackrabbit is a pretty interesting animal. Its scientific name is lepus alleni. The seven levels of classification that it is in are the kingdom animalia which means that it is an animal. The phylum is cordata, class mammalia, order is lagomorpha, family leporidae, genus lepus, and the species is L. alleni.

 

The antelope jackrabbit is 8-24 inches long and has a grayish-brown color with a white undercoat. It has some advantages because it can run fast to get away from predators and it can jump pretty far. This jackrabbit has big ears and very long legs to help it hear and jump the distances that it needs to. The antelope jackrabbit mostly lives in desserts but also lives on hills and in grassy plains.

 

They do well in the desert because they need to stay warm, don't need a lot of water, and use their ears to reduce or regulate their body heat. Antelope jackrabbits mostly live in Arizona because of all of the dessert there. The antelope jackrabbit's population is decreasing because of the droughts there. Antelope jackrabbits are herbivores which mean that they only eat plants.

 

They compete with other jackrabbits and other herbivores for the things that they want to eat. The predators of the antelope jackrabbits are coyotes, hawks and bobcats. The way that they avoid being eaten is by showing their white undercoat to supposedly show other rabbits that it needs help or that danger is coming. I thought that it was interesting that the jackrabbit doesn't absolutely need water.

 

It can also reach the speed of 40 mph, and uses its ears to regulate its body heat. I learned that there are a lot of different types of jackrabbits and there are a lot of key differences that separate them from other animals.

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Author: Brittani P

Published: 02/2007

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References: http://www.scenicdrive.org/cjjack.html http://wickipedia.com Photo Credit: Robert Shantz