Jameson’s Red Rock Hare

Jameson's red rock hare (Pronolagus randensis) is a species of rabbit in the family Leporidae found in rocky habitats in Zimbabwe, Angola, Namibia, South Africa, Botswana, and Mozambique. It is rufous and brown-furred, nocturnal, 42 to 50 cm (17 to 20 in) in length and 1.82 to 2.95 kg (4.0 to 6.5 lb) in weight—slightly smaller than the largest of the red rock hare species, the Natal red rock hare (P. crassicaudatus). The species is generally solitary when not breeding or grazing. Jameson's red rock hare feeds only at night. While grazing, it is sometimes seen in small groups feeding upon grasses and fresh shoots. Little is known about its mating behaviour, and its predators are similar to those of other red rock hares. It is classified as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), being abundant in the protected areas its distribution overlaps, but its population is decreasing. == Taxonomy and evolution == Pronolagus randensis was first described by and named after Irish zoologist Henry Lyster Jameson in 1907 at Observatory Hill, now Johannesburg, in what was at that time the Transvaal Colony. Jameson originally considered it a subspecies of Pronolagus ruddi, a species…