BIOLOGY PRESENTATION

Eastern Cottontail
(Sylvilagus floridanus)

Name
Tutors name
Date

OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANISM

Eastern Cottontail Rabbit as it is commonly known, is found
mostly in Virginia. It belongs to kingdom Animalia, Phylum
Chordata, class Mammalia, order Lagomorpha, family Leporidae,
Genus Sylvilugus and species S.fluoridanus and therefore its
scientific name is Sylvilagus floridanus.

Why I chose the organism

The reason as to why I chose this organism is
because eastern cottontail rabbits are readily
available in my place. It has always been my
ambition to study about this organ due to its
amazing behavior.
Unlike other animals, cottontail rabbits are not
hostile; they can live well with human beings.

Eastern Cottontail under study

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Eastern cocktail Distribution

Physical features
Eastern Cottontail is a small animal, commonly brownish gray in
color. Its hairs are black and white.
Its tail is cotton like, hence the name cottontail rabbit. It is
characterized by long ears and it rear feet are larger than front
feet.
Its length is between 16 to 17 inches and it weighs about 3 lbs.

Appearance

FORAGING ECOLOGY
How does the animal obtain its food?
Eastern cocktail is an herbivorous animal. It eats a wide variety of different plants. It
feeds mainly at night and rests during the day. It uses its nose to locate food. Eastern
cottontail eat bark, leaves, stems, branches, twigs, seeds, flowers, grasses and buds of
different plants. They usually eat certain foods depending on season. They mainly eat
twigs and bark of brambles, oak, birch and maple trees in the winter. When summer
comes, they switch to grasses and weeds.
Eastern cottontail usually dig through snow to reach food. It normally quench thirst
through eating snow, dew and plants with high water contents (Kurta, A. 1995)
During winter season, eastern cottontail forages over the snow cover surface to feed on
twigs and barks (Nowak et. al., 1983).

Feeding pattern
The feeding pattern of eastern cottontail varies
depending on season.
Commonly, it starts feeding two to three hours
after dawn and one hour after sunset (Chapman
et. al., 1980).

Processing of Food Items

Eastern cottontail are hindgut digesters (). This implies that their digestion
mostly occurs in large intestines and cecum. The cecum of a rabbit is ten times
bigger than its stomach (Baker, R.H. 1983). The cecum has a unique
musculature that allows the organisms intestinal tract to separate fibrous
material from more digestible material. It discharges fibrous materials as feces
while the nutritious
material is encased in a mucous lining as a cecotrope (Baker, R.H. 1983).
The cecotropes are rich in nutrients and therefore are necessary for the
organisms health.

REPRODUCTIVE ECOLOGY
The eastern cottontail reproduce through sexual
reproduction.
They usually mate with several individuals, thus
making them polygamous.
They normally start breeding when still young,
about six months old (Wainright, 1969).

Breeding Period
Eastern cottontail breeding period usually lies between February and September. Most of occurs
between March and May (Hamilton, 1940).
The gestation period is between 28 to 30 days and they usually give birth to between three to six
per litter.
(PICTURE OF YOUNG RABBITS IN A NEST)

HABITAT
Eastern cottontails are mainly found in woody open areas.
They often prefer areas with abundant grass.
In other areas, mostly urban, they are commonly found in grassy areas with
shrubs or tall grasses where they can hide from predators (Nowak, et. al.,
1983).
Eastern cottontails normally avoid wet areas such as marshy areas and areas
with short grasses. This is because, since they are a prey species, they must
always be in places where they can cover themselves from predators.

Nest
The female cottontail digs a shallow depression
with average measurements of 7 inches long by
4.5 inches wide.
This is then lined with grass and fur
(PICTURE OF NEST)

RESPONSE TO ENVIRONMENT
Eastern cottontail are highly preferred preys.
They have a wide range of predators such as red squirrels, foxes, weasels and dogs among other animals.
Human hunters are also predators to this species due to the nutritional value of its meat (Chapman, et. al., 1980).
Eastern cottontail has long ears which are very sensitive. It can hear a predator from far after which it freezes to
avoid being noticed.
(A PICTURE OF FROZEN RABBIT)

When it is noticed, they run very fast upto a speed of 20miles per hour in a zig-zag pattern so as to confuse their
pursuer.
They usually hop as they run away from their predators.
(A PICTURE OF RABBIT CHASED BY DOG)
During winter, the cottontail freezes so as keep itself warm.
(PICTURE)

BIOTIC INTERACTIONS
The Eastern Cottontail contributes to the
ecosystem in the following ways:
Its feces act as fertilizer to the grass and other
plants.
It acts as food to its predators.
It also controls the growth of plants by eating
them, and thus cutting back their growth (Birney
et. al.,1988)

STRUCTURAL ADAPTATIONS
Teeth
The eastern cottontail font teeth are sharp and grow continuously.
This allow the organism to eat a wide variety of foods without making its teeth dull.
Eyes & Ears
It has sharp eyesight with relatively bigger eyes than other rabbits. Its long ears enables it to hear from far. The ears can also move
independently of each other, enabling it to focus in different directions.
These two senses helps the cottontail rabbit in detecting danger in time in order to escape.
Legs
The legs of eastern cottontail has strong hind legs that helps it to run very fast when faced with danger.
When cornered, it can use the strong back legs in fighting.
Coloring
Eastern cottontail has a grizzled brown and grey coat. Its tail and underbelly is white. The grizzled fur makes it hard to be noticed
by its predators (Chapman et. al., 1980).

REFERENCES
Baker, R.H. 1(983). Michigan Mammals. Michigan State University Press, Michigan.
Banfield, A.W.F. (1981). The Mammals of Canada. University of Toronto Press, Canada.
Birney, E.C. and J.K. Jones, Jr. (1988). Handbook of Mammals of the North-Central States. University of
Minnesota Press, Minnesota.
Chapman, J.A., Hockman J.G. and Ojeda M.M. (1980). Sylvilagus floridanus. Mammalian Species no.136. The
American Society of Mammalogists.
Hamilton, W. J. (1940). Breeding habits of the cottontail rabbit in New York State. Journal of Mammalogy, 21:811.
Kurta, A. (1995). Mammals of the Great Lakes Region. The University of Michigan Press, Michigan.
Nowak, R.M. and Paradiso J.L. (1983). Walker's Mammals of the World. vol 1. 4th ed. The Johns Hopkins
University Press, Maryland.
Wainright, L.C. (1969). "A literature review on cottontail reproduction". Special Report 19. Denver, CO:
Colorado Department of Game, Fish and Parks