This family of 11 living genera and 47 species has the same natural range as that given above for the order Lagomorpha. Leporids, however, are among the most widely introduced mammals, having been brought by people to southern South America, Australia, New Zealand, Java, and various oceanic islands. There is mounting evidence that the term hare should be restricted to the genus Lepus and that all other leporids should properly be called rabbits. Nonetheless, these vernacular names are often used synonymously and are sometimes applied to the wrong animals.
Hares are generally larger than rabbits and usually have black ear tips.
Otherwise, external differences are indefinite, but there are some distinguishing features in the skull. In Lepus the palate is short, the postorbital process is broad and triangular, and the sutures of the interparietal bone are fused in the adult. These characteristics are the opposite in Oryctolagus. In addition, young rabbits are born naked, blind, and helpless, in a fur-lined nest prepared especially for them. Young hares are born in the open, not in a nest, are fully furred, have their eyes open, and are able to run about in a few minutes.