CreatureData

Desert cottontail

Sylvilagus audubonii (Baird, 1858)

LCLeast Concernmammals

The desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) is a species in the family Leporidae, order Lagomorpha. Recorded adults weigh 791.3 g to 889.6 g and live up to 7.81 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii)
Photo: Holly Cheng · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the desert cottontail

Weight
791.3 g – 889.6 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
7.81 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Herbivoresrc for Diet
Longest recorded lifespan
7.82 years
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
28.6 days – 30 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
2.6 – 3.6src for Young per litter or clutch
Age at maturity
3.52 months – 5.39 monthssrc for Age at maturity
Litters or clutches a year
5src for Litters or clutches a year
Active
At night (nocturnal)src for Active
Lifestyle
Terrestrialsrc for Lifestyle
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Where does the desert cottontail live?

Not recorded

What is the desert cottontail?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii), also known as Audubon's cottontail, is a New World cottontail rabbit, and a member of the family Leporidae. Unlike the European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus), they do not form social burrow systems, but compared with some other leporids, they are extremely tolerant of other individuals in their vicinity.

Cottontails give birth to their kits in burrows vacated by other mammals. They sometimes cool off, or take refuge in scratched out shallow created depressions of their own making, using their front paws like a back hoe. They are not usually active in the middle of the day but can be observed foraging in the early morning and early evening. Cottontails are rarely found out of their burrows looking for food on windy days, because the wind interferes with their ability to hear approaching predators, their primary defense mechanism.

From the Wikipedia article “Desert cottontail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Desert_cottontail&oldid=1385084603), 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 desert cottontail endangered?

The desert cottontail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.

How is the desert cottontail classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderLagomorpha
  5. familyLeporidae
  6. genusSylvilagus
  7. SpeciesSylvilagus audubonii (Baird, 1858)
Other names and names in other languages (25)
  • Audubon's cottontailEnglish
  • Audubon's cottontailEnglish
  • Audubon’s cottontailEnglish
  • Desert cottontail rabbitEnglish
  • králík pouštníCzech
  • Audubon-BaumwollschwanzkaninchenGerman
  • AudubonkaninchenGerman
  • Κουνέλι της ερήμουGreek
  • Conejo Del DesiertoSpanish
  • aavikkokaniiniFinnish
  • Lapin d'AudubonFrench
  • ארנבון אודובוןHebrew
  • Audubon-vattafarkúnyúlHungarian
  • Silvilago di AudubonItalian
  • Silvilago del desertoItalian
  • サバクワタオウサギJapanese
  • ØrkenkaninNorwegian Bokmål
  • WoestijnkatoenstaartkonijnDutch
  • Tohbiood
  • królak pustynnyPolish
  • Coelho-do-desertoPortuguese
  • Степной кроликRussian
  • ÖkenkaninSwedish
  • Кріль пустельнийUkrainian
  • 荒漠棉尾兔Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the desert cottontail

Other species in the same genus Sylvilagus.

LC, Least Concern

Brush rabbit

Sylvilagus bachmani

LeporidaeNo free photo yet

CompareDesert cottontail vs Eastern cottontailDesert cottontail vs Swamp rabbitDesert cottontail vs Brush rabbitDesert cottontail vs Common tapeti

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the desert cottontail?

An adult desert cottontail weighs 791.3 g – 889.6 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the desert cottontail endangered?

The desert cottontail is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

How long does the desert cottontail live?

The desert cottontail has a recorded lifespan of 7.81 years.

How long is the desert cottontail pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 28.6 days – 30 days.

What kind of animal is the desert cottontail?

The desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii) 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.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-cottontail

MLA

“Desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-cottontail.

BibTeX
@misc{desert_cottontail_2026,
  title = {Desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/desert-cottontail},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}