Amami rabbit
Pentalagus furnessi (Stone, 1900)
The amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) is a species in the family Leporidae, order Lagomorpha. Recorded adults weigh 2.3 kg to 2.4 kg and live up to 12.5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.
Quick facts about the amami rabbit
- Weight
- 2.3 kg – 2.4 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 12.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Herbivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 2.44src for Young per litter or clutch
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the amami rabbit live?
Not recorded
What is the amami rabbit?
The Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi), also known as the Ryukyu rabbit, is a dark-furred species of rabbit which is found only on Amami Ōshima and Tokunoshima, two small islands between southern Kyūshū and Okinawa in Japan. Often called a living fossil, the Amami rabbit is a living remnant of ancient rabbits that once lived on the Asian mainland, where they died out, remaining only on the two small Japanese islands where they live today.
From the Wikipedia article “Amami rabbit” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amami_rabbit&oldid=1379620070), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the amami rabbit endangered?
The amami rabbit is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.
How is the amami rabbit classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderLagomorpha
- familyLeporidae
- genusPentalagus
- SpeciesPentalagus furnessi (Stone, 1900)
Synonyms Caprolagus furnessi
Other names and names in other languages (24)
- Ryukyu rabbitEnglish
- Ryukyu rabbitEnglish
- králík japonskýCzech
- Amami-KaninchenGerman
- Ryukyu-KaninchenGerman
- Κουνέλι ΑμάμιGreek
- Κουνέλι ΡυουκυούGreek
- Conejo de AmamiSpanish
- Conejo de RyukyuSpanish
- riukiusaartenkaniiniFinnish
- Lapin des AmamiFrench
- ארנבון ברHebrew
- AmaminokurousagiJapanese
- アマミノクロウサギJapanese
- 아마미검은토끼Korean
- 아마미검은멧토끼Korean
- RyukyukaninNorwegian Bokmål
- AmamikonijnDutch
- pięciozębik leśnyPolish
- Coelho-de-amamiPortuguese
- Лазающий заяцRussian
- Лазающий (японский древесный) заяцRussian
- 琉球兔Chinese
- 奄美黑兔Chinese
Relatives of the amami rabbit
Other species in the same family Leporidae.
European rabbit
Oryctolagus cuniculus
European hare
Lepus europaeus
Mountain hare
Lepus timidus
Arctic hare
Lepus arcticus
Snowshoe hare
Lepus americanus
Cape hare
Lepus capensis
CompareAmami rabbit vs European rabbitAmami rabbit vs European hareAmami rabbit vs Mountain hareAmami rabbit vs Arctic hare
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the amami rabbit?
An adult amami rabbit weighs 2.3 kg – 2.4 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the amami rabbit endangered?
The amami rabbit is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
How long does the amami rabbit live?
The amami rabbit has a recorded lifespan of 12.5 years.
What kind of animal is the amami rabbit?
The amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi) belongs to the family Leporidae in the order Lagomorpha.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/amami-rabbit
“Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/amami-rabbit.
@misc{amami_rabbit_2026,
title = {Amami rabbit (Pentalagus furnessi)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/amami-rabbit},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}