Arctic hare.html |
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| Lepus arcticus Ross, 1819 |
The Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) is a hare which is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. It was once considered a subspecies of the Mountain Hare, but it is now regarded as a separate species.
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Range
It is distributed over the tundra regions of Greenland and the northernmost parts of Canada as well as Alaska. In the far north, it is white year-round; in other parts, it is a frosty blue grey color in summer but the tail remains white.
Size
It is an average of 55–70 cm (22–28 in) long, and it weighs about 4–5.5 kg (9–12 lb).
Diet
The Arctic Hare mainly eats woody plants. It eats buds, berries, leaves and grass.3 It has a keen sense of smell and may dig for willow twigs under the snow.
Subspecies
There are four subspecies of this hare:
- Lepus arcticus arcticus
- Lepus arcticus bangsii
- Lepus arcticus groenlandicus
- Lepus arcticus monstrabilis
References
- ^ Hoffmann, Robert S.; Andrew T. Smith (2005-11-16). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds). ed.. Mammal Species of the World (3rd edition ed.), Johns Hopkins University Press. pp.195-196. ISBN 0-801-88221-4, http://www.bucknell.edu/msw3.
- ^ Lagomorph Specialist Group (1996). Lepus arcticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 2006-05-06. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
- ^ Best, Troy L.; Henry, Travis Hill (1994). "Lepus arcticus". Mammalian Species 457: 1–9. doi:. ISSN 00763519.
