Omilteme cottontail

The Omilteme cottontail (Sylvilagus insonus), or Omiltemi cottontail (Spanish: conejo de Omiltemi), is a species of cottontail rabbit in the family Leporidae found only in the Mexican state of Guerrero in the Sierra Madre del Sur mountain range. It is a nocturnal, large rabbit, rufous to black in fur color, with long ears and a short tail. This cottontail is restricted to cloud forests at elevations of up to 11,499 feet (3,505 meters).

First identified in 1904 by Edward William Nelson in Omilteme, Guerrero, Mexico under the scientific name Lepus insonus, the Omilteme cottontail was soon after reclassified as a member of the genus Sylvilagus, the cottontail rabbits. It is closely related to the Mexican cottontail (S. cunicularius) and the desert cottontail (S. audubonii); the former species overlaps in distribution with the Omilteme cottontail.

The Omilteme cottontail is considered one of the most endangered mammal species in the world, and is only known from a few specimens. Once listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Mexican authorities as critically endangered, it is now considered a data deficient species. From the early 1900s up until the 1990s, no confirmed sightings of the cottontail were recorded, but two individuals were discovered in 1998, and more were found through the 2020s using camera traps. It is threatened by poaching and habitat destruction, and much about its natural history is unknown.

From the Wikipedia article “Omilteme cottontail” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Omilteme_cottontail&oldid=1360714642), 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.