# Talk:Jameson's red rock hare

This review is transcluded from Talk:Jameson's red rock hare/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Nominator: Reconrabbit (talk · contribs) 18:23, 27 January 2025 (UTC)
Reviewer: Esculenta (talk · contribs) 18:53, 1 February 2025 (UTC)

Hi, I'll review this. Comments in a day or two. Esculenta (talk) 18:53, 1 February 2025 (UTC)

First set of comments dropped; mostly prose tweaks and requests for additional info. Esculenta (talk) 17:39, 3 February 2025 (UTC)
Lead

The opening sentence is clear, but the phrase comparing its size ("slightly smaller than the largest of the red rock hare species") is a bit ambiguous for the lead (i.e., missing context: the reader doesn't yet know how large the genus is, or how large this related rabbit is)
Size info added. I am wary about adding specific sizes to the lead but it isn't called out anywhere I read (or recall reading) as a "medium sized rabbit" or similar, just "smaller than the largest".
in the list of countries where the rabbit is found, Angola isn't mentioned
Added
"Solitary in aspects other than breeding and grazing, Jameson's red rock hare feeds only at night, where it is occasionally seen in groups grazing upon grasses and fresh shoots." suggest "Although generally solitary except during breeding and grazing, Jameson's red rock hare is active exclusively at night; during grazing, it is sometimes seen in small groups feeding on grasses and fresh shoots."
The species has been noted as appearing at sunrise, so I wouldn't say "exclusively". I split this sentence.
"... it is assumed that breeding occurs year around and females give birth to one to two young per litter." suggest "occurs year‐round, with females giving birth to one or two young per litter."
Changed to suggestion. This is in the Reproduction section (which is a subheading of Behavior and ecology now).
"Active by night, Pronolagus randensis remains in hiding during the day and is nocturnal, though it will emerge in the early morning from shelter to sun." nocturnal=active at night, so the contruction seems a bit redundant; suggest "Primarily nocturnal, Pronolagus randensis remains hidden during the day but may emerge in the early morning to bask in the sun." Should crepuscular animal be mentioned/linked somewhere?
I haven't seen it called out as crepuscular, though it seems to be the case here. Don't know where it would be linked.  made the suggested change.
Taxonomy

why not mention that Jameson initially classified this as a subspecies of P. ruddi, and how he thought it differed from the type species. When did the taxon get promoted to species?
I missed this and it's not discussed in the taxonomy
what is the etymology of the subspecies names caucinus and whitei? Any chance of including the protolog citations for these two other accepted subspecies (to help interested readers research on their own)
I tried to find etymology for these subspecies but perhaps my searching ability is deficient. There is no mention of the caucinus etymology in the Eponym Dictionary of Mammals, which only describes "Jameson". Could not find the protolog for whitei anywhere, though the name almost always describes someone named White.
Matthee and Robinson performed a mitochondrial DNA study about Pronolagus rupestris populations published in 1996; seems like their conclusions were important for the taxonomy of the species, no? I think that the Matthee et al. 2004 study was also important for confirming the genetic distinctiveness of the species and the species concept used in the genus (it used nuclear rather than mito DNA); doi:10.1080/10635150490445715, available here
Y will research and add what I can find The study by Matthee and Robinson focuses on the related species Smith's red rock hare and mentions P. randensis only once. I think it confirms the separation of the species but I am not certain by what qualifications as the language in the conclusion is a little confusing to me.
The 2004 study is used in the main Red rock hare article where it is more relevant. We could add that P. randensis is the second-most basal taxon in the genus if warranted.
shouldn't the accepted subspecies be listed in the taxobox?
Added
Distribution and habitat

link disjunct distribution, scrub
Linked
might want to mention somewhere that the Angolan population might be a different species (per Sen & Pickford 2002, p. 76)
That page is discussing Smith's red rock hare.
"It occupies lower elevations than Hewitt's red rock hare." maybe give an elevation range?
Searching, I believe this was mentioned once but can't find it in the encylopaedias I have on hand
Characteristics

it seems to me like this section give the bare minimum information one might need to discern this from related species, but it leaves me wondering about things like:
how large is the rabbit? (40–50 cm says this predatory source
noted
how long is its tail?
noted
there's no mention of morphometric measurements that help distinguish this from other Pronolagus species. Sen & Pickford 2002 discuss this in detail. They talk about the distinctive skull structure, which has a strongly curved profile – more pronounced than in other Pronolagus species. Another notable feature is the frontal-parietal suture, which is positioned behind the rear attachments of the cheekbones, creating a larger frontal bone surface on the skull's roof compared to other species. On the underside of the skull, the openings in the palate are flared in their rear half, similar to P. crassicaudatus but different from P. rupestris where these openings are narrower. These features are particularly useful in distinguishing between species in museum collections where external features may not be preserved.
It's very hard for me to distinguish the useful information in Sen and Pickford 2022; it's a lot of unfamiliar terminology. I have tried to add the information relevant to distinguish these species apart to "Skeletal morphology" subheading. Can I use the wording you have here?
Sure Esculenta (talk) 21:21, 9 February 2025 (UTC)
apparently, incisor morphology is also used as a morphometric measurement to help distinguish related species
Added some, though it's noted that this particular characteristic is not as useful for Pronolagus distinction compared to other leporids.
Behavior and ecology

the Reproduction section is quite short; could this be included as part of "Behavior and ecology"? Are the hares known to make nests?
Moved heading
"Solitary in habits, although it is sometimes seen in groups when grazing,[4] and also in congregations consisting of a female, her young, and one to two males." prose needs tweaking (not a complete sentence)
Split up
why does it avoid eating those two plants?
It's stated that the avoidance is "likely due to their containing secondary defence compounds", but the paper is discussing Petromys typicus specifically and only gives a passing mention to P. randensis. I added "possibly".
Human interaction and impact

link protected area, habitat loss
Linked
Images

both images have licenses appropriate for use on Wikipedia
Misc.

there's no mention of the archaeozoological remains of Pronolagus randensis found at Inner Brandenburg (Namibia), which provide evidence that early humans were consuming these animals; see here, page 132. There's similar info (from a different site, Gondolin Cave) in this source, page 39.
Y I missed these in my search for literature, will add from the sources. The first link doesn't work for me though.
The source is Neer, W. Van; Breunig, P. (May 1999). Contribution to the archaeozoology of the Brandberg, Namibia. Cimbebasia vol. 15. pp. 127–140. The relevant text (p. 132) is:
"Pronolagus randensis.
Remains of the rabbit genus Pronolagus Lyon (Leporidae), were excavated. Several principal upper incisors are preserved and have the rather elongate cross-section, which distinguishes them from Lepus Linnaeus. Moreover, three skull fragments have broad palatines resulting in narrow mesopterygoid plates (Figure 1d), which indicates that they do not belong to Lepus. The Brandberg specimens are attributed to Jameson's Red Rock Rabbit Pronolagus randensis Jameson, considering the present-day distribution and habitat preferences.
Pronolagus lives gregariously in rocky habitats, with palatable grasses, and cover of scrub bushes. The remains of a soft nest made of fur, was found in the upper levels of Amis 6, indicating that the rock shelter itself was on occasion inhabited by rock rabbits. Rabbits may have been captured using snares or traps, but hand capture is also possible."

I was able to find it via Google Scholar through Van Neer's page. Thanks for the full citation. This is the first reference I have found to the rabbit having a nest, so I will look for another mention and add that as well.
Can you see this source? (Google Books access is variable depending on location) It's from Mammals of Africa: Volume III: Rodents, Hares and Rabbits and has quite a bit of useful info about this species packed into a page, including morphometric measurements. Esculenta (talk) 04:55, 6 February 2025 (UTC)
Here's some of the sort of useful/interesting/germaine info that could be harvested from this source that's not in the Wikipedia article:

the type specimen was collected at an elevation of 1,798 m (5,899 ft)
this source (published in 2014; so significantly more recent than the 2005 source used for subspecies taxonomy) says that subsp. whitei and caucinus are synonymous with the nominate subspecies (along with several other subsp.) and that there are no subspecies
I don't know how I missed it but the 2018 book also mentions this, noted
all Pronolagus species have 2n=42 chromosome count, so perhaps that should be mentioned for context, so the reader doesn't think the number is special for this species
Clarified
according to this source, the mitochondrial DNA study (that we discussed above) demonstrated that there was little genetic variation between the subspecies (thus justifying the lumping of the previously accepted subspecies into one)
Added this
they have a brief but useful section on similar species which briefly describes sympatric and allopatric lookalikes
this species is very abundant in the granite hills of Matopos Hills (Zimbabwe) and eastern Botswana sandstone formations
"If disturbed, stays under cover until the last moment and then disappears behind nearby rocks."
they leave flattened pellet-like droppings in middens
they don't expose themselves on observation rocks (unlike Hyraxes, also in similar habitats)
etc.; there's more useful info in this source about social behaviours & reproduction that fall under the "broad coverage" aspect of GA
Will make efforts to use this and other linked works to expand, hopefully tomorrow when I am able. Busy today and tonight. I didn't expect that much information to be in Mammals of Africa - it's more detailed on behavior and range than the two encyclopedias that I have access to, the SANBI entry, and the Kingdon field guide. Reconrabbit 21:32, 7 February 2025 (UTC)
I believe I've added all that's useful from these sources and then some (please let me know if I misinterpreted any additions specifically the "not filled with cement" remark from Kingdon 2014). @Esculenta: what are the next steps? I did a search on my own in my university's library for information as well and found some sparse information on recent proposed subspecies.
I think the "Broad Coverage" criterion of GA is now comfortably met! I'll be back for a close read later today or tomorrow to wrap things up. Esculenta (talk) 21:09, 10 February 2025 (UTC)
I'm satisified with the spotchecks that I made that the information is presented appropriately and is faithful to the sources. I aggressively copyedited the article, rather than using more time bring things up here, but feel free to revert any changes you don't like. To conclude, I believe the article meets the GA criteria and will promote it now. Esculenta (talk) 01:14, 12 February 2025 (UTC)