Molly Morris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>Rabbits never were and never will be. It has to do with their teeth. They are
>lagomorphs.Also(this don't have anything to do with the family), most rodents
>will eat meat and rabbits won't. Actually, I don't even think that rabbits(or
>ferrets) should be considered small animals because of the major care they
>require. But I'll shut up now. -Molly
Rabbits and hares were classified as rodents up until the late 19th
century. At that time it was recognised that they had multiple features,
including the structure of the skull and the teeth, that meant they had
clearly evolved separately from rodents.
I have a dictionary of animated nature from 1849 which is really a
dictionary of taxonomy. It is very detailed and classifies hares and
rabbits as rodents.
Bizarrely, it also records that Meriones is a North American genus
closely related to gerbils and has a picture of Meriones Labradorius! I
mean to investigate this further when I have time.
I know that most Meriones species we know today were originally
classified as Gerbillus.
--
Julian
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* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
* http://www.gerbils.co.uk/ *
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