AnAge entry for Sylvilagus floridanus

Classification (HAGRID: 02604)

Taxonomy: Kingdom: Animalia
    Phylum: Chordata
        Class: Mammalia (Taxon entry)
            Order: Lagomorpha
                Family: Leporidae
                    Genus: Sylvilagus
Species: Sylvilagus floridanus
Common name: Eastern cottontail
Synonyms: Sylvilagus floridanus floridanus, Sylvilagus floridanus alacer, Sylvilagus floridanus chapmani, Sylvilagus floridanus holzneri, Sylvilagus floridanus mallurus, Sylvilagus floridanus aztecus, Sylvilagus floridanus connectens, Sylvilagus floridanus hondurensis, Sylvilagus floridanus macrocorpus, Sylvilagus floridanus orizabae, Sylvilagus floridanus yucatanicus, Sylvilagus floridanus avius, Sylvilagus floridanus cumanicus, Sylvilagus floridanus margaritae, Sylvilagus floridanus nigronuchalis, Sylvilagus floridanus orinoci, Sylvilagus floridanus purgatus, Sylvilagus floridanus superciliaris, Lepus orizabae, Lepus russatus, Lepus sylvaticus alacer, Lepus sylvaticus aztecus, Lepus floridanus chapmani, Lepus floridanus connectens, Lepus sylvaticus floridanus, Lepus sylvaticus holzneri, Lepus nuttalli mallurus, Sylvilagus floridanus russatus, Sylvilagus floridanus subcinctus, Lepus floridanus subcinctus, Lepus floridanus yucatanicus

Maximum longevity: 9.8 years (captivity)
Source: Steven Austad, pers. comm.
Sample size: Small
Data quality: Acceptable
Observations: In the wild, these animals appear to live up to 5 years. In captivity, they have been reported to live more than 9 years [0001]. One captive specimen lived 8.4 years at Tulsa Zoo [0671]. There are anecdotal reports, which may be true, of one animal living 9.8 years in captivity (Steven Austad, pers. comm.). Other estimates suggest they may live over 10 years [0697], but this is unverified.

No information on metabolism is available.

[0671] Richard Weigl (2005), Longevity of Mammals in Captivity; from the Living Collections of the World
[0610] Ernest (2003), Life history characteristics of placental non-volant mammals
[0001] Carey and Judge (2000), Longevity Records: Life Spans of Mammals, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles, and Fish
[0434] Ronald Nowak (1999), Walker's Mammals of the World
[0676] Purvis and Harvey (1995), Mammal life-history evolution: a comparative test of Charnov's model
[0455] Virginia Hayssen et al. (1993), Asdell's Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction: A Compendium of Species-Specific Data
[0680] Wootton (1987), The effects of body mass, phylogeny, habitat, and trophic level on mammalian age at first reproduction
[0731] Zullinger et al. (1984), Fitting sigmoid equations to mammalian growth curves
[0697] Chapman et al. (1980), Sylvilagus floridanus