Arctic hare
| Arctic Hare[1] | |
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| Scientific classification | |
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| Species: | L. arcticus
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| Binomial name | |
| Lepus arcticus Ross, 1819
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The Arctic Hare (Lepus arcticus) is a hare which is largely adapted to polar and mountainous habitats. It was once considered a subspecies of the Mountain Hare, but it is now regarded as a separate species.
Range
It is distributed over the tundra regions of Greenland and the northernmost parts of Canada as well as Alaska. In the far north, it is white year-round; in other parts, it is a frosty blue grey color in summer but the tail remains white.
Size
It is an average of 22-28 inches long, it weighs about 9-12 lb.
Diet
The Arctic Hare mainly eats woody plants. It eats buds, berries, leaves and grass.[3] It has a keen sense of smell and may dig for willow twigs under the snow.
Subspecies
There are four subspecies of this hare:
- Lepus arcticus arcticus
- Lepus arcticus bangsii
- Lepus arcticus groenlandicus
- Lepus arcticus monstrabilis
References
- ^ Hoffman, R.S.; Smith, A.T. (2005). "Order Lagomorpha". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 195–196. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes a brief justification of why this species is of least concern
- ^ Best, Troy L. & Henry, Travis Hill (1994-06-02). "Lepus arcticus". Mammalian Species. 457: 1–9. doi:10.2307/3504088. ISSN 0076-3519. OCLC 46381503.
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