An international scientific study has concluded that the Iberian Peninsula hosts two rabbit species, not just one, proposing the “urgent reclassification” of the Iberian rabbit as a “distinct species,” to prevent extinction, revealed today by BIOPOLIS/CIBIO, of the University of Porto.
“Raising this lineage to the status of a distinct species will help curb inappropriate repopulations,” improving “the conservation and management of a heritage of two million years” that is in decline, explains, in a press release, BIOPOLIS/CIBIO – Centre for Biodiversity and Genetic Resources Research/ InBIO Associated Laboratory, which participated in the study.
The scientists argue that recognizing this diversity “does not mean discovering a new and unknown animal, but rather correctly classifying an already identified lineage, granting it the appropriate status to prevent its extinction by replacement.”
“It is no longer possible to manage rabbit populations on the Iberian Peninsula as if they constituted a single biological entity. Recognizing these two species is essential to develop appropriate conservation measures and prevent a single evolutionary lineage from continuing its decline,” emphasizes Nuno Ferrand, director and researcher at CIBIO and one of the study’s authors.
The study, published in the scientific journal Biological Conservation, “reveals that the Iberian Peninsula hosts two rabbit species, not just one, as previously thought,” demonstrating the existence of “two deeply differentiated lineages, which diverged about two million years ago and remain reproductively isolated.”
BIOPOLIS/CIBIO clarifies that, currently, the rabbit on the Iberian Peninsula is classified into two subspecies of the same species: the European rabbit and the Iberian rabbit.
“While the European rabbit, in the north and east of the peninsula, remains stable or expanding, the Iberian rabbit, restricted to Portugal and the southwest of Spain, is in a sharp decline,” notes.
Thus, placing the two lineages into a single species would mean “camouflaging the catastrophic decline of an ancient evolutionary lineage.”
Hence the proposal to elevate to the status of a distinct species, summarizes.
In the study, genomic, morphological, reproductive and ecological data collected over the past decades across the Iberian Peninsula were analyzed.
“The researchers developed an evolutionary and conservation framework to evaluate how the current biodiversity management frameworks, hunting regulations and translocation programs affect these distinct biological entities,” describes.
The scientists will conclude that the two lineages remained “reproductively isolated throughout their entire evolutionary history” and that the Iberian rabbit “would meet the criteria to be considered ‘Endangered,’ due to its ongoing decline.”
On the other hand, the researchers observed that the Iberian rabbit “presents deep biological differences: beyond genetics, it is a smaller, darker animal, less social, with lower population densities, earlier sexual development and smaller litters than those of the European rabbit.”
“Being a keystone species that sustains many predators in the Mediterranean ecosystem, including the Iberian lynx and the Iberian imperial eagle, the collapse of the Iberian rabbit threatens regional biodiversity,” they warn.
According to the researchers, “these results demand an urgent review of decisions relating to wildlife management on the Iberian Peninsula and, particularly, in Portugal.”
“The study underpins the need for changes, such as adjusting hunting seasons and quotas, recognizing that the Iberian rabbit’s slower demographic dynamics make it vulnerable to over-exploitation,” they state.
The scientists hope that these conclusions “will raise awareness among hunting communities, environmental managers and policymakers about the urgency of designing specific recovery plans for the Iberian rabbit.”
