\[ **BT: [[mammals]]** ] --- # lagomorphs There are two living Lagomorph families: **Leporidae** and **Ochotonidae**.[^1] --- ## Leporidae (Family) ### rabbits Baby rabbits are called *kits*.[^2] [[Rabbits do not have an ovulatory cycle; they are, instead, induced to ovulate via copulation.]][^3] [[Suckling induces oxytocin production in all mammals.]][^4] [[In rabbits, the amount of oxytocin produced when suckling is correlated with litter size.]][^5] [[Rabbits nurse their young just once per day, in a set (circadian) rhythm, at night.]][^6] [[Rabbits mothers nurse their kits within a nest; this nest is constructed by the rabbit mother during the course of her pregnancy.]][^7] ![[Caba et al. 2018, 'Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction', p. 2.png]] <small>Source: [[Caba et al., ‘Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction’, 2018]], p. 2.</small> [[The rabbit mammary pheromone, 2-methylbut-2-enal, triggers rabbit pups to suckle.]][^8] (see: [[pheromones]]) [[In rabbits, the amount of lactation-related oxytocin secreted is directly related to the number of suckling kits.]][^9] --- ### hares ![[Wikimedia Commons - Lepus sinensis from Thomas Hardwick's 'Illustrations of Indian Zoology', Vol. 2, c. 1833 - Public Domain.jpg]] [^10] [^1]: ‘Lagomorpha’, Wikipedia, last edited 27 July 2025, 17:22 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagomorpha. [^2]: Mario Caba et al., ‘[[Caba et al., ‘Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction’, 2018|Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction: Insights from Behavior and the Female Rabbit’s Brain]]’, *Frontiers in Endocrinology*, vol. 9, 106 (March 2018), https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00106. [^3]: A. Dal Bosco et al., ‘[[Dal Bosco et al., ‘Ovulation Induction in Rabbit Does’, 2011|Ovulation Induction in Rabbit Does: Current Knowledge and Perspectives]]’, *Animal Reproductive Science*, vol. 129, nos. 3–4 (2011), p. 107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anireprosci.2011.11.007; ‘Estrous cycle’, Wikipedia, last updated 19 February 2025, 09:28 (UTC), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estrous_cycle. [^4]: Mario Caba et al., ‘[[Caba et al., ‘Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction’, 2018|Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction: Insights from Behavior and the Female Rabbit’s Brain]]’, *Frontiers in Endocrinology*, vol. 9, 106 (March 2018), p. 4, https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00106. [^5]: Mario Caba et al., ‘[[Caba et al., ‘Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction’, 2018|Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction: Insights from Behavior and the Female Rabbit’s Brain]]’, *Frontiers in Endocrinology*, vol. 9, 106 (March 2018), p. 4, https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00106.; Jennifer Denver, *[[Denver, Female Biology, 2024|Female Biology]]*, 2nd edition, All USF Faculty Authored Books 108 (2024), p. 354. USF Scholarship Repository, [https://repository.usfca.edu/faculty_books_all/108](https://repository.usfca.edu/faculty_books_all/108); Cat Bohannon, *[[Bohannon, Eve, 2023|Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution]]* (Hutchinson Heinemann, 2023), p. 43. [^6]: Mario Caba et al., ‘[[Caba et al., ‘Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction’, 2018|Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction: Insights from Behavior and the Female Rabbit’s Brain]]’, *Frontiers in Endocrinology*, vol. 9, 106 (March 2018), p. 3, https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00106. [^7]: Mario Caba et al., ‘[[Caba et al., ‘Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction’, 2018|Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction: Insights from Behavior and the Female Rabbit’s Brain]]’, *Frontiers in Endocrinology*, vol. 9, 106 (March 2018), p. 3, https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00106. [^8]: Tristram D. Wyatt, ‘[[Wyatt, ‘Pheromones’, 2017|Pheromones]]’, *Current Biology*, vol. 27, no. 15 (2017), R740. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.039](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.039). [^9]: Mario Caba et al., ‘[[Caba et al., ‘Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction’, 2018|Circadian Rhythms and Clock Genes in Reproduction: Insights from Behavior and the Female Rabbit’s Brain]]’, *Frontiers in Endocrinology*, vol. 9, no. 106 (2018), p. 4, https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00106. [^10]: Wikimedia Commons, in the Public Domain: Lepus sinensis from Thomas Hardwick’s ‘Illustrations of Indian Zoology’, Vol. 2, c. 1833.