Fossil finds are rabbit forebears

Fossil finds are rabbit forebears

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Fossil hunters have found the remains of ancient mammals that were related to today's rabbits and hares.
The 53-million-year-old specimens consist of small ankle bones unearthed in Gujarat, central India.

They belong to early examples of an animal group called lagomorphs, which today comprises hares, rabbits and a hamster-like animal called a pika.

Details of the discovery appear in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

The oldest lagomorphs known before this were from Central Asia and date to between 40 and 48 million years ago.

The latest finds come from clay beds in the Vastan lignite mine, north-east of Mumbai in Gujarat

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These early eocene fossils (53 million year old) consisted of ancle bones identifiable as lagomorphs or rabbit related mammals. Previous lagomorphs were dated as 40 and 48 million years so these were much earlier.

The earth had gone through the KT asteroid impact event related to the dinosaur extinction at 65 million years ago. Then 55 million years ago there was a major global warming event that caused an 11 degree F average temperature rise. The warming event was associated with the sudden arrival of or diversification of the mammals. So in a mere 2 million years or 53 million years ago the mammals had arrived, diversified and formed into lagomorphs. Now that is some fast evolution! The modern type rabbit arrived much later.

Does anyone have info on when rabbit like ancestors began appearing?

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