Lagomorpha

Lagomorpha is a mammal order. It includes pikas, rabbits and hares. Although lagomorphs look like rodents, they are not rodents, but are closely related to them. They have four incisors on the upper jaw, not two as with rodents. Also, they only eat plant material, not meat as rodents do to some extent.

Rabbits were classified under rodents until the 20th century.Gregory W.K. 1019. The orders of mammals. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History. 27.Wood A.E 1957. What, if anything, is a rabbit? Evolution 11, 417425.  They are divided into two families: Leporidae, which are hares and rabbits, and Ochotonidae, the pikas.

It has been known for some time that Lagomorpha is an unusual group, and there have been many guesses about its evolution. Darren Naish explains this.Naish, Darren 2010. Tetrapod zoology 2010. Chapter 31, p183 et seq: The most freaky of all mammals: rabbits. ISBN 978-1-905723-61-4

 Taxonomy 
 Order Lagomorpha
 Family Ochotonidae (Pikas)
 Genus Ochotona
 Family Leporidae (rabbits and hares)
 Genus Brachylagus
 Genus Bunolagus
 Genus Caprolagus
 Genus Lepus
 Genus Nesolagus
 Genus Oryctolagus (includes the domestic rabbit)
 Genus Pentalagus
 Genus Poelagus
 Genus Pronolagus
 Genus Romerolagus
 Genus Sylvilagus

 References