It is mathematically possible for a single pair of rabbits to multiply to about individuals in the span of just one calendar year. Why and how does the rabbit reproduce at such an amazing rate? Well the why may be because rabbits are very popular food source for a large variety of predators. A wild rabbit has a life expectancy of less than 3 years, simply because it is hunted by every predator in its habitat.
And even animals smaller in size and weight than mature rabbits and hares, such as house cats and sparrow hawks will regularly take them, because they offer little defense other than fleeing. So for a bunny, reproducing before you get eaten is the number one plan, and nature has designed the rabbit with several physical characteristic to help with that goal. First, female rabbits do not have a "season" as most mammals do. The female is receptive to the males advances as long as she has unfertilized eggs available, which is about 26 days out of every month.
The females hormones are triggered by the act of intercourse, and she ovulates about 10 hours after copulating, so the eggs are released only when sperm are present, and impregnation is virtually guaranteed with a single mating. Second, while hare newborns are almost completely self sufficient the day they are born, rabbits catch up quickly, remaining helpless for the first few days but becoming completely independent and fully weaned at only 4 to 5 weeks.
Next, young rabbits and hares are ready, and often do, mate at as young as 4 months old. Once pregnant, the gestation is a relatively short days. Litter size is not extreme compared to many other species - including many breeds of dogs - with a typical litter size of 5 or 6 kits, but some other factors like the speed of development, make up for, and may be the reason for this.
Within 2 to 4 days of giving birth, a female rabbit may be receptive to an interested male, and become impregnated again. So it is actually conceivable for one female rabbit to become pregnant every 35 days and deliver up to 10 kits in each litter in the course of 1 year. Throw in the idea that the youngsters from her first litter may begin mating at 1 month old , and so on and so on, and you end up with many, many rabbits. Some animals, particularly some rodents, have shorter pregnancies, larger litter sizes, and even quicker weaning times, but the combination of all these factors in the rabbit, along with a very strong reproductive drive, gives you the most prolific mammal in the animal kingdom.
Rabbits make lovely pets, and have been diligently bred for attractiveness and personality since the 's. Some modern breeds are so petite that they may be kept happily in a simple hutch indoors, not unlike one might keep a hamster or gerbil.
The Netherland dwarf, Dutch, Mini-lop and Angora bunnies are the most popular modern breeds, but there are literally dozens of fine choices for an indoor or outdoor companion. Some rabbits pets aren't confined at all, but are given the run of the house once some rabbit-proofing is done to discourage the chewing of furniture and electrical cords. Since the rabbit is a den animal in the wild, its natural tendency is to eliminate in the same place all the time, which facilitates litter-pan training.
Of course healthy rabbit feces are relatively dry and pellet-like,so an accident is rarely an issue. The main drawback to rabbits being kept indoors is the odor of wet litter. Rabbits drink lots of water and produce dark, potentially strong-smelling urine , so pans and cages must be cleaned regularly.
Male rabbits will occasionally spray urine, similar to male cats, which can be a huge problem. There are 17 species of Sylvilagus cottontails in North and South America, some of the best-known species. Photo by Francesco Ungaro from Pexels. Rabbits vary widely in size.
Meanwhile, the smallest is the pygmy rabbit Brachylagus idahoensis , at only 7. Rabbits have long ears, which are likely an adaptation for detecting predators. They also have long, powerful hind legs and a short tail.
Rabbits are full-bodied and egg-shaped, wild rabbits are rather uniform in body proportions and stance. Their tail is usually a small puff of fur, generally brownish but white on top in the cottontails genus Sylvilagus of North and South America. Rabbit fur is generally long and soft, and its color ranges through shades of brown, gray, and buff.
Help our community out by submitting an answer. What would happen if rabbits went extinct? The riverine rabbit of South Africa is critically endangered; fewer than are left in the world due to habitat degradation from agriculture.
Some rabbits and hares are habitat specialists, unable to live anywhere but in their native environment, which makes them very sensitive to habitat loss and climate change. If it died, the consumers that feed on it — rabbits, insects and slugs — would have no food. They would starve and die unless they could move to another habitat. Monika Bohm, of London Zoo's Institute of Zoology believes it's an impossible task to purely add up all of the offspring of every species in the world as we just don't know enough about the majority of species' reproductive habits.
He says that species which weigh a thousandth of another are typically a thousand times more abundant. Which means that there are more bees than elephants, more woodlice than porcupines and more ants than anteaters. One of the most abundant animals on the planet is the nematode, which is also known as a roundworm. There are three million nematodes per square metre of land on earth. One species of nematode that has been studied extensively is called Caenorhabditis Elegans or "C Elegans" to its friends.
They lay about five eggs per hour. By looking at established ratios which allow populations to remain stable, Prof Rossberg estimates that one-in eggs will hatch, giving us a total of quintillion C Elegans nematodes born every day. That's a six followed by 20 zeros. When multiplied by the number of square metres of land on earth - which is around about ,,,, - this comes out at quintillion nematodes born per day on land on earth every single day.
When the rest of the global nematode population, which lives in water, is taken into account, this figure is much, much, higher. So there you go.
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