The Evolution Of The Hare

[Moll. 1,793]

I personally don't think predation to that extent (ie speedy predators) is the reason Moo. I think more to do with the type of land they had to live in for food...ie flat open land a great distance away from cover, coupled with all the different types of predators. A bird of prey can be pretty fast and can cover some ground, and as it can see from above the hare would have nowhere to hide other than dense cover.

So it would need speed to escape as many other predated animals do, but because it has a great distance to travel to get to cover it also needed the stamina at that high speed. Just my thoughts based on the differences observed between rabbits and hares lifestyles?

[Millet 4,497]

 

But thats my point Moll dureing the evolution of the hare there must of been a predator that caused the hare to evolve into the animal it did ...a prey animal that had nearly the same speed and stamina as the hare cause imo an animal doesnot become so refined and near perfect for running like the brown hare without being pushed hard in the chase over thousandsand thousands of years .

Golden eagle's take a good number of hare's so maybe over the year's that has made them evolve into faster long distance runner's..

[birddog 1,354]

Lepus europaeus occidentalis ( as classified by de Winton in 1898), the brown hare, has been around these lands for a lot longer than the imported rabbit, thus explaining their differing habits. their fossilised remains have been found alongside those of sabre toothed tigers and bears so they developed to evade much more dangerous predators than those species mentioned, with the wolf and the lynx high on the list of probables. Aesop whose fables date from the 6th century bc mentions them in detail in 'The hares and the frogs', and they were hunted by hounds as long ago as 435bc according to the greek historian Xenophon whose own hounds hunted them on the slopes of Mount Pholoe. Stone age man has been proven to eat them, did they catch them in snares or hunt them with sticks and spears or did they bully other better predaters into giving up their catch? My own guess is that their need for speed in part at least arose from the flying predators, wild eagles still hunt them today.

[skycat 6,174]

So why didn't they learn to live in burrows and go to ground quickly, like rabbits? Or, did they evolve the way they did because burrows were too dangerous? Too many poisonous reptiles, or animals which could dig down to them if they lived like rabbits? In which case, did they begin to evolve on large open plains where to run fast and far was the best chance of survival.

[birddog 1,354]

did they evolve onto large open plains? were they pushed there away from the forests by mans interference ? did there ability to twist and turn come from being forest dwellers initially with no need to burrow for safety?

[Born Hunter 17,954]

This thread is becoming quite interesting. It would be great to read some academic work on the evolution of the hare. Some good questions being raised.

 

This is my take on it; the hare has tremendous sprinting stamina and speed, would a predatory bird like an eagle necessitate such stamina? Perhaps not if only hunted one course at a time but for a surface dwelling prey animal like the hare I suppose it needs the stamina to survive a number of courses in quick succession... I believe the hares speed and agility would get it out of most situations but not having anywhere to hide, unlike the rabbit, would mean that it couldn't afford to run itself down in evading just one hunt. The possibility of being hunted very soon after surviving the previous hunt would be high, hence the need for good stamina.

 

What I'm trying to say is it's possible that the hare's stamina was not evolved through predation by animals with equal stamina but because another course could immediately arise after one has just been successfully evaded, due to the fact the hare realistically has no where to hide.

 

Just speculating...

[paulus 26]

I personally don't think predation to that extent (ie speedy predators) is the reason Moo. I think more to do with the type of land they had to live in for food...ie flat open land a great distance away from cover, coupled with all the different types of predators. A bird of prey can be pretty fast and can cover some ground, and as it can see from above the hare would have nowhere to hide other than dense cover.

So it would need speed to escape as many other predated animals do, but because it has a great distance to travel to get to cover it also needed the stamina at that high speed. Just my thoughts based on the differences observed between rabbits and hares lifestyles?

i think they just wanted to beat the tortoise

[Moll. 1,793]

This thread is becoming quite interesting. It would be great to read some academic work on the evolution of the hare. Some good questions being raised.

 

This is my take on it; the hare has tremendous sprinting stamina and speed, would a predatory bird like an eagle necessitate such stamina? Perhaps not if only hunted one course at a time but for a surface dwelling prey animal like the hare I suppose it needs the stamina to survive a number of courses in quick succession... I believe the hares speed and agility would get it out of most situations but not having anywhere to hide, unlike the rabbit, would mean that it couldn't afford to run itself down in evading just one hunt. The possibility of being hunted very soon after surviving the previous hunt would be high, hence the need for good stamina.

 

What I'm trying to say is it's possible that the hare's stamina was not evolved through predation by animals with equal stamina but because another course could immediately arise after one has just been successfully evaded, due to the fact the hare realistically has no where to hide.

 

Just speculating...

 

My thoughts also

[birddog 1,354]

You'll struggle to find much academic work on the subject, most of my facts are from Tegners 'Wild hares'. I have seen two eagles multi swooping (is that a term) at a blue hare and I have ferreted hares that have been hard pushed and taken sanctuary in burrows.

[donkdaniel 236]

did they evolve onto large open plains? were they pushed there away from the forests by mans interference ? did there ability to twist and turn come from being forest dwellers initially with no need to burrow for safety?Alot of our hares live in thick forests around my area atb donk

[Bosun11 537]

Think everyone has hit the nail on the head in some form or other here. Birddog, from what i've read somewhere there is a theory that the hare was originally a forest dweller and mans interference and subsiquent clearing of the forest pushed them onto open ground, no different than red deer. Certainly round here hares live 70% of there time in woodland and only venture out after dark, though to be fair, most are on fecking vallium due to year round hunters, so I'll discount them...!

As for which preditor, i'd go as far as to say just about every one, just about every preditor that has inhabited this land would have a punt at a hare if one was spotted and in range, from wolves to eagles and all that are in the middle... These would have had a hand in speeding up this incredible animal, though there must have been a pre species that 'decided' to stay on top and not burrow.

[Moll. 1,793]

Alot of our hares live in thick forests around my area atb donk

Same here, but they do venture far and wide to feed.

[donkdaniel 236]

Alot of our hares live in thick forests around my area atb donk

Yes that is true moll that do seem to use cover on the hills to in patches of bushes dogs are always putting them out also seen buzzards up in the trees where the hares are and no rabbits so I do think that hunt them to atb donk

Same here, but they do venture far and wide to feed.

[paulus 26]

Alot of our hares live in thick forests around my area atb donk

Yes that is true moll that do seem to use cover on the hills to in patches of bushes dogs are always putting them out also seen buzzards up in the trees where the hares are and no rabbits so I do think that hunt them to atb donk

Same here, but they do venture far and wide to feed.

ive seen a hare kick off a buzzard

[sandymere 8,263]

I’d agree with a number of ideas raised, hares likely evolved on big open land where running or hiding where their best survival options. Speed and agility to evade various predators, stamina as just because the fox etc missed the first time the hare would need to keep going so the predator didn’t get another chance, and finally good camouflage to hide from aerial predators. Main habitats seem to have a lot in common ie arctic tundra, deserts, African plains, steppes of Asia into more open areas of Europe as mountain areas, all wide with minimal tree cover. Their size would negate burrowing for safety as the small foxes of these types of habitats would be able to join then ie arctic or Fennec foxes..

There are exceptions as in the snow shoe hare but these seem exceptions that probably evolved from the main lines to suit a particular habitat.