Desert Hare – Lepus tibetanus

Lepus tibetanusWaterhouse, 1841

Accepted name, Mammal Species of the World 2005

"Subgenus Proeulagus (Gromov, 1964). Until the 1930’s tibetanus was considered a distinct species. The first major revision (Heptner, 1934) united europaeus, tolai and tibetanus in a single species, but Ognev (1966:154) rejected this concept, stating that ""...there is much evidence against considering the common hare, the Tolai and desert hares as one species..."". Next, Ellerman (in Ellerman and Morrison-Scott, 1955) placed tibetanus as a subspecies of capensis, along with tolai; he was supported by Petter (1959, 1961a). Then Harrison (1972) added arabicus to capensis; see also Corbet (1978), and comments under tolai. Some, however, continued to follow Ognev. Bannikov (1954), Sokolov and Orlov (1980), and Shou (1962) provided details of distribution in Mongolia and China respectively. Luo (1981) performed a cluster analysis that he interpreted as supporting Ellerman, et al., but was strongl... [truncated]"

• Wilson, D and Reeder, D. (eds.) 2005. Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. 3rd ed. -- 2142 pp. Johns Hopkins University Press.