Hypolagus balearicusQuintana, Bover, Alcover, Agustí & Bailon, 2010 (Mammalia: Leporidae): new data from the Neogene of Eivissa (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean)

Abstract

ABSTRACT New remains of Hypolagus balearicus Quintana, Bover, Alcover, Agusti & Bailon, 2010 from Ses Fontanelles (Eivissa) gives new information concerning this Early Pliocene endemic leporid from Eivissa and Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean sea). The body mass estimated for H. balearicus ranges from 1.3 to 2.7 kg, which is small in comparison to other species of the same genus. The cranium of H. balearicus is proportionally short and has relatively smaller orbits than Oryctolagus cuniculus (Linnaeus, 1758). Remarkable in the usually conservative (in leporids) postcranial skeleton is the particular morphology of the elbow (with crests and pits with a soft outline) and its length in relation to the length and the transversal diameter of the humerus, which yields similar proportions to those of the Amami rabbit Pentalagus furnessi (Stone, 1900) from Amami-Ohshima Island and Tokuno-Shima Island (Japan). In contrast, the diaphysis of the ulna shows a robustness comparable to that observed in...