The growth and proportions of the rabbit’s ear in relation to body weight

Dunlop, George; Hammond, J. R.

doi:10.1007/bf02982307

Cited by 7 publications

(3 citation statements)

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“…The total number of young rabbits marked in 1939 was 142, the sex ratio being males 47*9y0, females 52.1%. In Sylwi+pwidmnrs the ratio is similarly weighted in favour of the females, though not to the same extent; Gerstell(1937) found that of 6394 cottontails 49'2% were males and 508% females.…”

Section: '7mentioning

confidence: 91%

The Ecology and Population Dynamics of the Wild Rabbit (Oryctolagus Cuniculus)

Southern

1940

Annals of Applied Biology

105

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With Plate zz and 2 Text-figures) THIS paper gives the results of a year's field work on populations of the wild rabbit (Olyctolagus c. cuniculus (L.)). The experimental work was intended to be carried on over three years, but it has been thought advisable to publish the data already collected, since they cover probably the most important period of the rabbit's life cycle, namely, the breeding season. Few facts have been recorded about the rabbit, though there is much tradition and hearsay. To this extent these results may be regarded as an advance and as forming the groundwork of a fuller and more complete understanding of the ecological and economic status of the rabbit. GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS I N THE ECOLOGY OF THE RABBITThere is practically no European litefature dealing with the subject. Niethammer (1937) is the only author so far traced who has experimented with marking wild rabbits : his methods were random ones (ferreting) and few observations were made. More work has been done in America, notably on the snowshoe rabbit (Lepur americanus) and on the cottontail rabbit (Sylvilogur poridanus), and in the case of the latter live trapping and marking techniques have been elaborated and census taking has reached an efficient level. Unfortunately, these techniques will not apply to the European wild rabbit on account of the difference in its habits.With the rabbit the main unit of the population is the colony, so that distribution is more analogous to a contour map, where each peak represents a focal point with a high resident population and the slopes from each peak represent the area of influence of each warren. The fact that the distribution of the population is not random means that traps cannot be set out in grids, a valuable procedure, which equalizes the trap efficiency at each of a series of trappings. The only practicable plan WBI to study a single warren, so that the figures derived from it could be applied to larger or smaller w-, or to total areas with known amounts of warren upon them. TECHNIQUE (i) TrappingThe warren used in the experiments was chosen because it was fairly isolated, the nearest burrow being about IOO yd. away, and because it was in the middle of a gnw field and well defined in itcl boundaries. The actual warren area was about 4 acre in extent (PI. zz, fig. I), contained about 104 burrows, and was overgrown with a thick cover of nettles. D u r i n g the winter of 1938-9 a fence was erected around the warren, made of 6 ft. larch stakes 15 ft. apart, and wire n e b g 19 in. gauge, 1 4 in. mesh and 60 in. wide. This was s u n k into the ground about 9 in. deep and turned inwards a further 6 in. to prevent the rabbits burrowing underneath it.Rabbit' "smeuses" or outlets were set in this fence (Pl. zz, fig. z), and consisted of a short metal tunnel, rectangular in section, set in a hole in the netting fence to provide a way in and out for the rabbits. On such a small area as 4 acre the inhabitants could not get enough food without leaving the enclosure; in fact, the endosure was set as n...

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Section: '7mentioning

confidence: 91%

The Ecology and Population Dynamics of the Wild Rabbit (Oryctolagus Cuniculus)

Southern

1940

Annals of Applied Biology

105

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“…In the 19th century, naturalists criticized Darwin's theory of natural selection, claiming that it relied excessively on observations of domesticated animals (Agassiz, ). Geneticists eventually confirmed his assumptions on the heritability of disproportionate ear growth in ‘lop‐eared’ rabbits (Castle & Reed, ; Dunlop & Hammond, ). However, to this day, most of Darwin's examples of exaggerated trait variation in domesticated mammals have not been described in natural populations (Wilkins et al ., ; Sánchez‐Villagra et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

A test of Darwin's ‘lop‐eared’ rabbit hypothesis

Cordero

Berns

2016

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Integration of evolutionary and developmental biology has stimulated novel insights on the origins and maintenance of phenotypic variation. For instance, phenotypic accommodation predicts that trait covariance originates via a novel developmental input caused by genetic change in one trait, but not the other. Darwin provided a striking example of this process in the 'lop-eared' rabbit by demonstrating that artificial selection for long external ears induced variation in the external auditory meatus. Although this intriguing pattern has been interpreted as evidence of phenotypic accommodation, it is unclear whether it exists and, if it does, whether it is selectively maintained in nature. To address this concern, we examined trait covariance in natural woodrat populations that have likely undergone selection for long ears. We demonstrated a remarkably similar covariance pattern as in the 'lop-eared' rabbit, which was associated with climatic variables along a steep arid-to-moist longitudinal gradient. Thus, our results suggest that trait covariance is likely a correlated response to selection. We relate these findings to potential origins of trait covariance owing to altered developmental interactions, such as in phenotypic accommodation. Additional evidence is needed to clarify how phenotypic accommodation and correlated selection promote and maintain trait covariance in natural populations. Nonetheless, our study is the first to support a classic Darwinian example concerning domestication and natural selection.

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“…Yapp (1924), proposing the index H 2 L/W for cattle, recognized that it changes with age. Similarly, changes with size were taken in account where the ratio of W/L was used for descriptive purposes (for example, Dunlop and Hammond, 1937). At least in one instance (Kopec, 1926) as complex an index of conformation as the ratio of weight of feathers to the sum of the depth and breadth of the thorax was used without regard to the dimensions involved.…”

Section: Length-weight Ratios Measuring Conformationmentioning

confidence: 99%