Lagomorpha

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(Redirected from Lagomorph)

iLagomorphs<ref name=MSW>Hoffmann, Robert S., Andrew T. Smith (November 16, 2005). Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 185-211. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.</ref>
Fossil range: Earliest Eocene - Recent

Image:Ochotona princeps.jpg

Pika, Ochotona princeps, in Sequoia National Park

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Lagomorpha Brandt, 1855

Families

Leporidae
Ochotonidae
Prolagidae (extinct)

The Lagomorphs, order Lagomorpha, are an order of mammals of which there are two families, Leporidae (hares and rabbits), and Ochotonidae (pikas).

Though members of order Lagomorpha can resemble rodents (order Rodentia), and were classified as a superfamily in that order until the early twentieth century, they have since been considered a separate order. For a time it was common to consider the lagomorphs only distant relatives of the rodents, to whom they merely bore a superficial resemblance; however, genetic studies have since shown that, while still distinct from rodents, they are indeed very closely related after all.

1 Characteristics
2 Classification
3 See also
4 References

[edit] Characteristics

Lagomorphs (loģ o-moŕ fs)(Gr. lagos, hare: + morphē, form) differ from rodents in that:

they have four (not two as in rodents) incisors in the upper jaw;
they will only eat vegetation (unlike rodents, who will eat meat and vegetation)
the male's scrotum is in front of the penis;
the penis has no bone (baculum) unlike the rodent penis; and
they will redigest first-time droppings (called cecotropes) to obtain the most from their plant diet.

They resemble rodents, however, in that their teeth grow throughout their life, thus necessitating constant chewing to keep them from growing too long.