Abstract

BALDERAS-MANCILLA, Ulises de Jesús et al. Recognition of the Tamaulipas white-sided jackrabbit (Lepus altamirae E. W. Nelson, 1904) (Lagomorpha: Leporidae) in its type locality, Altamira. Acta Zool. Mex [online]. 2024, vol.40, e4012629.  Epub Feb 11, 2025. ISSN 2448-8445.  https://doi.org/10.21829/azm.2024.4012629.

The Altamira jackrabbit was reinstated to the taxonomic level of species Lepus altamirae in 2019, due to the fact that it was previously classified as subspecies of the black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus merriami and later Lepus californicus, although Lepus altamirae is a white-sided jackrabbit. The decades that L. altamirae remained as subspecies of the black tailed-jackrabbit reduced visibility to the importance of studying the life history and geographic distribution of the species of white-sided jackrabbit that inhabits the subtropical region of northeastern México. The populations of the different species of white-sided jackrabbits are diminishing in North America throughout their distribution ranges. The objectives of this study were to investigate and document if L. altamirae subsists in the type locality. Bibliographic and online-portal searches, oral-interviews to local inhabitants, and sampling through the line-transect method in vegetated land owned by the Altamira Industrial Port were performed. One jackrabbit was photographed and another specimen was live-captured; both individuals were identified as L. altamirae according to the pelage coloration, therefore its presence was verified in the type locality with new records since its taxonomic description in 1909. We propose that is necessary to implement systematic monitoring of L. altamirae to improve knowledge on the actual distribution and conservation status of populations.

Keywords : Gulf of México; Industrial port; Jackrabbit capture; Leporid; Subtropical grassland.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )