Arctic Hare
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Arctic Hare[1] | ||||||||||||||
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| Lepus arcticus Ross, 1819 |
The Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) is a hare which is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. It was once considered a subspecies of the Mountain Hare, but it is now regarded as a separate species.
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[edit] Range
It is distributed over the tundra regions of Greenland and the northernmost parts of Canada as well as Alaska. In the far north, it is white year-round; in other parts, it is a frosty blue grey color in summer but the tail remains white.
[edit] Size
It is an average of 22-28 inches long, it weighs about 9-12 lb.
[edit] Diet
The Arctic Hare mainly eats woody plants. It eats buds, berries, leaves and grass.[3] It has a keen sense of smell and may dig for willow twigs under the snow.
[edit] Subspecies
There are four subspecies of this hare:
- Lepus arcticus arcticus
- Lepus arcticus bangsii
- Lepus arcticus groenlandicus
- Lepus arcticus monstrabilis
[edit] References
- ^ Hoffmann, Robert S.; Andrew T. Smith (2005-11-16). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 195-196. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ^ Lagomorph Specialist Group (1996). Lepus arcticus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 2006-05-06. Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
- ^ Best, Troy L. & Henry, Travis Hill (1994-06-02). "Lepus arcticus". Mammalian Species 457: 1-9. doi:. ISSN 00763519. OCLC 46381503.
