It can sing, it is sociable, field studies in Ein Gedi reveal complex communication, regional “dialects” and a link between social equality and survival – and despite its proximity to the elephant, the rabbit lives among us in gardens and on the edges of construction sites. It lives in Israel and, despite its size, is actually a relative of the elephant. Who are you, a rock rabbit? The hottest questions about the most interesting animals
It is a social creature that communicates in a language with characteristics of human language, it is vegetarian and the coolest thing – it has an impressive singing repertoire: Meet the rock hare. We spoke with Prof. Amiel Ilani, from the Steinhardt School of Zoology and the Natural History Museum at Tel Aviv University, who explained what we can learn from the animal that may have found a new home outside the construction site near your house.
Where does the rock rabbit live?
"The rock rabbit is a local species that is widespread throughout Israel – which is the northern limit of its distribution in the world. It can be found from the Golan Heights to the Eilat Mountains, and its distribution is expanding. The rock rabbit is also found in Africa, but there are places there where its distribution is in danger. As its name suggests, the rock rabbit lives in rocky areas that provide shelter for it. Today, there is an increase in its numbers – probably as a result of a decrease in the number of predators and a construction boom. In other words, construction in localities creates shelter for them, for example, if rocks are thrown aside, and even under buildings in Jerusalem."
To which biological family does he belong?
"A rock rabbit is a mammal, but it is not a rodent. Its maximum lifespan is about 11 years, but many do not live past the age of 6–7, and as in many species, most cubs do not survive their first year. In this sense, the long-term research that I am involved in is an advantage in understanding the behavior of the rock rabbit."
"It may be surprising, but this is a near-future the elephant And of River Dachshund"The other species that connected them are already extinct."
What is its role in the ecosystem?
"The rock rabbit feeds on every possible plant and it is important for it to have a wide variety of plant species. It can even eat the oleander - if we make tea from it and drink it - we will die. It is also preyed upon by many predators. Rock rabbit cubs are eaten by foxes and birds of prey, and adult rabbits are eaten by Wolves And in the past, when they were in Israel, by Tigers"That is, the ecosystem depends on them. While the rock rabbit may sometimes eat our garden or be a carrier of parasites transmitted by the bite of a sand fly, from an agricultural point of view, it is not considered a major pest."
How do you research rock rabbits?
"For 26 years, field research has been taking place in Ein Gedi, in collaboration with Prof. Lee Koren from Bar-Ilan University, Prof. Eli Geffen from Tel Aviv University, and many students whose research was part of their training. The research team is in the field and making observations. We follow every detail and know its history and characteristics. The advantage of field work is the opportunity to study the behavior of the rock hare in the ecological context – in the environment in which it evolved. On the other hand, an animal in a laboratory may behave unnaturally in an artificial environment."
What can we learn from rock rabbits?
"I love and am interested in rabbits, but for me it's a model. With the help of a rock rabbit, you can ask general and broad questions in ecology and evolution about animal behavior. For example, there could be new discoveries about communication between rock rabbits in Ein Gedi from which you can draw general conclusions. In other words, we found one thing in rabbits and other research groups found something new in a monkey, a bird or a fish - this way we will reach general conclusions."
Why did you choose to investigate him?
"My father, Giora Ilani, was a zoologist. So you could say I inherited the interest. I like to look at animals and wonder how they behave and what the reason for different behaviors is. For example, in my PhD, I examined whether the principle of weighting is at work in the 'singing' of rock rabbits. The assumption is that traits evolve because they provide some advantage. A peacock's tail is an example of the principle of weighting: Why would it move with a heavy and cumbersome tail that makes it difficult for it to fly and escape from predators? The magnificent tail evolved so that the male could prove his quality to the female. I hypothesized that the energy that the rock rabbit invests in singing might be a sign of the quality of the individual, but we found no such connection. It is possible that the singing is the weighting that exposes the rabbit to potential predators."
Why do rockhoppers sing?
"It seems that singing gives rabbits an advantage in the field of reproduction, but the mechanism through which the advantage appears is still an open question. Our field research and monitoring of each individual allows us to make most of the discoveries. For example, if we want to test the connection between singing and reproductive success, we need to know each rabbit and its offspring. Today we know that rabbits that sing more and in a more 'complex' way are more successful in reproduction. In the rock rabbit, each song sounds a little different. It will include three or four elements, which will be combined in a different way each time. The singing of male rabbits is not easy to decipher. The song is often heard in a context that is not clear to us, and it is difficult for us to understand its function. We do not yet know what characteristics in the song that females 'want', and it is difficult to identify their response to the song."
"The sounds they produce can be heard from hundreds of meters away. Similar to human languages, we have seen that they have geographic dialects. In addition, rabbits, like almost every human language, have the law of brevity – the more common a word is, the shorter it will be, such as the difference between the words 'yes' and 'no' and the word 'encyclopedia.' In fact, less common types of sounds or sounds that are made louder require more energy. This is an example of laws found in human languages, and we also find them in animal communication systems that are also sophisticated and we have a lot to learn from them. Sometimes this communication is outside the range of our senses and we are not aware of it. For example, there are insects that communicate using vibrations transmitted across branches on which they stand. Therefore, we need to be modest in judging communication systems that we do not necessarily understand."
What other interesting discovery have you made about rock rabbits?
"There is a connection between the social structure of rabbits and their survival. We found that in more egalitarian groups, rabbits survived better. That is, when social ties were shared equally and there were no outcasts or particularly central individuals, then their chances of survival were higher."
How are rockhoppers affected by the climate crisis?
"At this stage, the effects of the climate crisis on the rock hare are unknown, but this is a species that is sensitive to ambient temperature, and therefore climate change may harm the rock hare, which is sensitive to heat. Although they live in warm areas like Ein Gedi, they cannot be in the sun during the day. If they do not stay in the shade, their body temperature will rise dangerously."
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