Rabbits are part of the Leporidae family, which consists of rabbits and hares. The Leporidae family, along with pikas, makes up the order Lagomorpha.
Rabbits are not rodents, which belong to a separate order, although they both have constantly growing incisors. Lagomorphs have four incisors, and are almost entirely vegetarian, while rodents have two incisors and many will eat meat as well as vegetation.
Domestic rabbits are all of the European Rabbit species, scientifically known as Oryctolagus Cuniculus, which means “digger of tunnels”.
The Earliest Rabbits
A rabbit’s ankle bones, approximately 53 million years old have been found in India, providing evidence that the separation of rabbits and hares from pikas, also part of the order Lagomorpha, began much earlier than previously believed. The bones are much smaller than the modern rabbit, indicating that the creature was similar in size to a hamster, however they appear to show rabbit like features. It seems that bunnies have been around for a long time!
Phoenicians
Around 1000 BC, Phoenician traders discovered rabbits in what is now southern Spain and Portugal, and named the area i-shephan-im, the “Coast of Rabbits” (or actually “Coast of Hyraxes”, a creature they were familiar with that they confused the rabbits for). It is possible that the Roman name for Spain, Hispania, derived from this.
Ancient Romans
Rabbits were popular with the Romans as a source of food and fur. The Romans kept them in fenced or walled enclosures called leporaria. The remains of a 2000 year old rabbit found at a Roman settlement in Norfolk indicates that the Romans introduced the rabbit to Britain.
Middle Ages
Selective breeding of rabbits, for traits such as weight and fur colour, began in the middle ages, with several new breeds being recorded by the 1500s.
The name for a rabbit was coney, with the word rabbit meaning a baby coney. It is only relatively recently that rabbit has come to mean an adult, with the word kitten being adopted to mean a baby.
Victorians
The popularity of the rabbit as a pet became firmly established in Victorian times, and new breeds were created for the purposes of exhibition. Rabbit shows became popular, and these continue to this day.
Modern History
The popularity of rabbits as pets continued to increase through the 20th century, helped along by such things as Beatrix Potter’s The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
House rabbits have become more popular since the 1980s, although there were some pet bunnies living in people’s houses before then. The popularity of house rabbits has increased as rabbit owners realise that you can get to know your rabbit much better when it lives in the house with you.