If you suddenly found yourself on the Balearic island of Minorca three - to - five million year ago , you ’d in all likelihood encounter Nuralagus rex , a 26 - Ezra Pound , short - eared rabbit that ’s six times larger than today ’s European lapin ( Oryctolagus genus Cuniculus ) .
The discovery of this big bunny was detail in a late study led by Dr. Josep Quintana of Spain ’s Institut Català de Paleontologia . According to Quintana , the predator - less island ecosystem allow Nuralagus rex to develop to enormous sizes and mislay its expectant , sensitive ears and oculus ( no bunny girl ear for Nuralagus ) . NotesPhysorg :
The lapin big businessman go approximately 3 - 5 million days ago and may be one of the oldest known cases of the “ island rule ” in mammal . Simply put , the island regulation states that when on island , big animals will get smaller and low beast will get big . This size variety on island may be due to reduced quantities of food or lack of mainland predators [ … ] In the case of N. rex , the lack of piranha allowed this rabbit to reach a giant size . Quintana and colleagues base that this giant cony had also lost its ability to skip . The long springy back of a mainland cony is lost in N. rex , replaced by a short , unfaltering backbone that would make jump off difficult . “ I think that N. male monarch would be a rather bungling rabbit walk . Imagine a beaver out of water , ” said Quintana .
Quintana ’s team findings were published this calendar month inthe Society of Vertebrate Paleontology . For more modern weird hare islands , seeOkunoshima Island in Japanand theScottish island of Canna .
https://gizmodo.com/abandoned-chemical-weapons-plant-is-overrun-with-fluffy-5718195
https://gizmodo.com/scottish-island-is-infested-with-adorable-rabbits-5526570
[ Illustration viaSVP ]
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