Check List 11(6): e19422, doi: 10.15560/11.6.1820
Taxonomic identity of invasive rabbits in Cuba: first record of Eastern Cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus (Mammalia: Lagomorpha)
expand article infoCarlos A. Mancina‡, Efrén García Tió§, Rafael Borroto-Páez|, Hector M. Díaz‡, Fernando A. Cervantes
‡ Instituto de Ecología y Sistemática, Cuba§ Federación Cubana de Caza Deportiva, Cuba| ciedad Cubana de Zoología,¶ Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Corresponding author: Carlos Mancina ( mancina@ecologia.cu )

© 2017 Carlos Mancina, Efrén García Tió, Rafael Borroto-Páez, Hector Díaz, Fernando Cervantes.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Mancina C, Díaz H, García Tió E, Borroto-Páez R, Cervantes F (2015) Taxonomic identity of invasive rabbits in Cuba: first record of Eastern Cottontail, Sylvilagus floridanus (Mammalia: Lagomorpha). Check List 11(6): 1820. https://doi.org/10.15560/11.6.1820
Open Access
Abstract
In islands of the West Indian zoogeographical region, rabbits are not native, and wild populations are the result of introductions. Oryctolagus cuniculus is the only lagomorph listed among the introduced mammals of the Cuban archipelago. We analyzed specimens of wild rabbits and we report the occurrence of Sylvilagus floridanus for the first time in Cuba. Capture data suggest that their distribution is currently limited to the west-central region of the island. However, the niche models showed high climatic suitability throughout the majority of Cuba, suggesting a high expansion probability.
Keywords
Eastern Cottontail; introduced mammal; new record; niche modeling; Oryctolagus cuniculus; West Indies