Tolai hare

Tolai hare
Altyn-Emel National Park, Kazakhstan
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Lagomorpha
Family:	Leporidae
Genus:	Lepus
Species:	L. tolai
Binomial name
Lepus tolai Pallas, 1778
Tolai hare range
Synonyms [2]
List Lepus aralensisSevertzov, 1861 Lepus lehmanniSevertzov, 1873 Lepus butlerowiBogdanov, 1882 Lepus kessleriBogdanov, 1882 Lepus swinhoei O. Thomas, 1894 Lepus centrasiaticusSatunin, 1907 Lepus gansuicusSatunin, 1907 Lepus gobicusSatunin, 1907 Lepus filchneriMatschie, 1908 Lepus stegmanniMatschie, 1908 Lepus swinhoei subluteusO. Thomas, 1908 Lepus swinhoei brevinasus J. A. Allen, 1909 Lepus aurigineusHollister, 1912 Lepus swinhoei sowerbyaeHollister, 1912 Lepus tolai bucharensisOgnev, 1922 Lepus wongiYang Zhongjian, 1927 Lepus tolai desertorumOgnev & Heptner, 1928 Lepus europaeus turcomanusHeptner, 1934 Lepus europaeus cinnamomeusShamel, 1940 Lepus capensis cheybaniBaloutch, 1979 Lepus capensis habibiBaloutch, 1979 Lepus capensis petteriBaloutch, 1979 Lepus capensis huangshuiensisLuo Zexun, 1982

The tolai hare (Lepus tolai) is a species of hare native to Central Asia, Mongolia, and Northern and Central China. It inhabits semi-desert, steppes, rocky habitats, and forest meadows. It is relatively common, even in areas with heavy human disturbance, due to its fast reproductive rate. It is mainly active at dusk and at night but is occasionally active during the day. ^[3]

Taxonomy and etymology

Engraving of the tolai hare by Johann Nufsbiegel

The tolai hare was first described by the German naturalist Peter Simon Pallas in 1778. He gave it the name 'tolai' as this was the common name for the hare among the local Mongols and Kalmyks. ^[4] Its type locality was described as a rocky or sandy plain near the Selenga river; Ellerman and Morrison-Scott wrote in 1951 that a more likely description of the locality was at Adinscholo Mountain on the river Borzya, which is some 700 kilometres (430 miles) east of the Selenga. ^[5]

The systematics of the tolai hare and its subspecies have been contested. It was formerly included with the cape hare (L. capensis), ^[6] as well as the European hare (L. europaeus) and the desert hare (L. tibetanus). ^[1] Even after the tolai hare was separated into a distinct species, there remained confusion among its subspecies. The subspecies L. tolai centrasiaticus has since been reassigned to the desert hare, but genetic analysis has made its position less certain. Furthermore, the subspecies L. tolai swinhoei has been proposed as representing a distinct species, and L. przewalskii has been reassigned as a synonym of the woolly hare (L. oiostolus). ^[7]

Ten subspecies of the tolai hare are known, with eight accepted in the third edition of Mammal Species of the World and two more (centrasiaticus and huangshuiensis) proposed since its publication: ^{[1] [7]}

• L. t. tolai, nominate subspecies found in Inner Mongolia and Gansu
• L. t. aurigineus, found in Jiangxi, Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Guizhou
• L. t. buchariensis, unknown range, may extend into Iran and beyond
• L. t. centrasiaticus, found in Xinjiang, Gansu, and Inner Mongolia
• L. t. cheybani, unknown range, may extend into Iran and beyond
• L. t. cinnamomeus, found in Sichuan and Yunnan
• L. t. filchneri, unknown range, may extend into Iran and beyond
• L. t. huangshuiensis, found in Qinghai
• L. t. lehmanni, found in Xinjiang
• L. t. swinhoei, found in Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Beijing, Henan, Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Shandong

Description

The tolai hare grows to a head-and-body length of between 400 and 590 mm (16 and 23 in) with a tail of 72 to 110 mm (2.8 to 4.3 in). It is rather variable in colouration across its range. The upper parts are some shade of dull yellow, pale brown, or sandy grey with brownish or reddish stripes. The hip region is sometimes ochre or grey. The head has a pale, bare, greyish or ochraceous patch of skin surrounding the eye and extending forwards to near the muzzle and backwards to the base of the long ears, which have black tips. The underparts and flanks are pure white. The tail has a broad black or brownish-black stripe on the top. ^[8] Like other leporids, it has a dental formula of 2.0.3.31.0.2.3 × 2 = 28—two pairs of upper and one pair of lower incisors, no canines, three upper and two lower premolars on each side, and three upper and lower molars on either side of the jaw. ^[9]

Distribution and habitat

Feeding in Rashaant, Bulgan, Mongolia

The tolai hare is native to central and eastern Asia. Its range extends from the eastern side of the Caspian Sea through eastern Iran, Afghanistan, southern Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, through southern Siberia and Mongolia to western, central and north-eastern China. It is a creature of semi-arid steppe, mountain steppe, rocky areas, rough grassland and forest grassland, preferring shrubby areas where there is plenty of cover. Its elevation range is generally between 600 and 900 m (2,000 and 3,000 ft), but a single individual has been recorded much higher in Jammu and Kashmir. ^[1]

Ecology

A young tolai hare in Kegeti, Kyrgyzstan

The tolai hare is a nocturnal species and feeds on grasses, herbaceous plants and roots. It does not dig a burrow except when it is breeding, but scrapes out a depression in the ground in which to lie; this scoop is shallow in hot weather but is deeper in colder conditions. Breeding takes place two or three times a year, with litters of two to six young being produced each time. ^[8]

In the Neolithic Yangjiesha site of Loess Plateau, signs of commensal behavior (taming) between local tolai hares and humans can be found. ^[10]

Conservation status

A tolai hare among crops in Zhongmu County, China

The tolai hare has a wide range and is generally a common species. It is hunted in places for its meat and skin, and in Mongolia it is used in traditional medicine. It is present in a number of protected areas, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed its conservation status as being of "least concern". ^[1]

References

1. Smith, A.T.; Johnston, C.H. (2019). "Lepus tolai". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2019 e.T41308A45193447. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T41308A45193447.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
2. "Lepus tolai Pallas, 1778". ASM Mammal Diversity Database. American Society of Mammalogists . Retrieved 6 February 2026.
3. Aulagnier S.; P. Haffner, A. J. Mitchell-Jones, F. Moutou & J. Zima (2009) Mammals of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, A&C Black, London.
4. Pallas, P.S. (1778). Novae species quadrupedum e glirium ordine cum illustrationibus variis complurium ex hoc ordine animalium (in Latin). Vol. Fasciculus I. Wolfgang Walther, Erlangen. pp. 17–28 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.
5. Hoffmann, R.S.; Smith, A.T. (2005). "Lepus (Proeulagus) tolai". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 185–211. ISBN   978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC   62265494.
6. Lado, S; Alves, PC; Islam, MZ; Brito, JC; Melo-Ferreira, J (November 2019). "The evolutionary history of the Cape hare (Lepus capensis sensu lato): insights for systematics and biogeography". Heredity. 123 (5): 634–646. Bibcode:2019Hered.123..634L. doi:10.1038/s41437-019-0229-8. PMC   6972951 . PMID   31073237.
7. Smith, Andrew T.; Johnston, Charlotte H.; Alves, Paulo C.; Hackländer, Klaus, eds. (2018). "Lepus tolai Pallas, 1778 Tolai hare". Lagomorphs: Pikas, Rabbits, and Hares of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 216–217. doi:10.1353/book.57193. ISBN   978-1-4214-2341-8. LCCN   2017004268.
8. Smith, Andrew T.; Xie, Yan; Hoffmann, Robert S.; Lunde, Darrin; MacKinnon, John; Wilson, Don E.; Wozencraft, W. Chris (2010). A Guide to the Mammals of China. Princeton University Press. pp. 291–292. ISBN   978-1-4008-3411-2.
9. Pintus, Kathryn. "Lepus tolai - Tolai hare". Wildpro. Twycross Zoo. Archived from the original on October 26, 2016.
10. Sheng, Pengfei; Hu, Yaowu; Sun, Zhouyong; Yang, Liping; Hu, Songmei; Fuller, Benjamin T.; Shang, Xue (June 2020). "Early commensal interaction between humans and hares in Neolithic northern China". Antiquity. 94 (375): 622–636. doi: 10.15184/aqy.2020.36 .