Bizarre Striped Rabbit Discovered in Asia
What’s black and brown and striped all over? A new species of rabbit hopping around the forests of Southeast Asia, according to the Aug. 19th issue of the journal Nature. Discovered by biologists from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), the rabbit lives in the rugged Annamite Mountains of Laos, an extremely isolated region that has yielded several new species of mammals in recent years.

The rabbit, which has distinct, dark brown stripes running down both its face and back, a reddish rump, and short ears, was first seen by WCS researcher Rob Timmins, who found three freshly hunted specimens in a food market in Ben Lak, Laos. Tissue samples were then sent to Dr. Diana Bell at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, where DNA analysis by Alison Surridge confirmed that the rabbit was distinct.

According to researchers, the rabbit’s closest relative is a critically endangered species found in Sumatra— about a thousand miles away; genetic data suggest that the two species may have diverged about eight million years ago. Nothing is yet known about the biology of either variety. Since Timmins’ find, the rabbit has been photographed in a nature reserve in Vietnam.

"It’s marvelous and astonishing that at the end of the 20th century, we are still finding large new mammals," said Dr. George Schaller, WCS’s director for science. "There are certainly more new species out there, which makes it imperative that areas like the Annamites are protected for the future."

WCS has been working to protect wildlife in Laos since 1991, and has made several remarkable discoveries in the Annamites in recent years. In 1992, WCS scientists working in Laos found the saola, a distant relative to wild cattle first documented in Vietnam. Two years later, WCS identified a new species of barking deer called the giant muntjac, and rediscovered the Vietnamese warty hog, thought to be extinct.

"It’s not coincidental that the Annamites have produced several new species of large mammals," said Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, director of science for WCS’s Asia Program. "These isolated areas contain ancient lineages that provide clues to the evolutionary process. We must protect and preserve these amazing windows into the past."

Contact:
Wildlife Conservation Society
Stephen Sautner at ssautner@wcs.org
John Delaney at jdelaney@wcs.org
718-220-5197

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