Nuralagus

Nuralagus rex Temporal range: Messinian–Pliocene PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
From left to right, right femurs of Myotragus, Minorcan lagomorph, and modern European rabbit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Lagomorpha
Family:	Leporidae
Genus:	† Nuralagus Quintana et al., 2011
Species:	† N. rex
Binomial name
† Nuralagus rex Quintana et al., 2011

Restoration of Nuralagus rex

The Minorcan giant lagomorph, Nuralagus rex, is an extinct rabbit that lived in the island of Minorca from the Messinian until around the middle of the Pliocene, when it became extinct (5 to 3 million years ago) when Majorca and Minorca were united as one island, letting the goat-like ungulate Myotragus balearicus colonize Nuralagus's habitat.^{[citation needed]}

Fossils have been found of individuals which could have weighed up to 23 kg (50 lbs)^{[citation needed]}, although the estimated average body mass of the species is about 12 kg. They had small ears, tiny eyes, short legs and a short straight rigid vertebral column, very unlike their living relatives.

According to paleontologist Josep Quintana Cardona, N. rex didn't hop much if at all, as evident by its relatively short stiff spine. No fossil remains of any rabbit eating predators have been found, so it is suggested that without predators they did not need to maintain speed and agility, and could evolve to larger sizes.