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Ancestor: Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus (Domestic Rabbit) 

Descendants 2,000,000 Yh: 

Furfoot
Ground Rabbits

Size: 45cm

Dietary Needs: Like their ancestors their diet consists of a lot of grass and soft leafy ground plants. However, more tender and easier to digest plant matter is more difficult to find in drier climates. They sometimes eat washed up seaweed if it's still fresh, though the further North they go the more poor the ocean nutrients are and the warmer the sea, prohibiting the growth of most seaweeds. They also consume coastal-adapted and salt tolerant wheats and barleys, which make up much of the coastal flora. This coastal flora has more water available both from the sea in salt-tolerant varieties and also from rainfall and mist that's common on the coast. Although no grass grows directly in the sea water, the rabbits will sometimes enter the sea water for the seaweeds.

Life Cycle: Adults are more solitary than their ancestors, living only with offspring and their mate. This is so they don't compete for nutrients as much, although competitions for territory have taken over. Even mates will split apart temporarily if they don't presently have young in their care and they are competing too much for food.

The females have strongly retained the tendency of their ancestors to cannibalize their young during stress, as the desert is a high stress, low nutrient environment. Thus it serves a recycling purpose.  Although these rabbits are monogamous, the male doesn't intervene under these circumstances.

They still produce a lot of offspring in a short space of time provided conditions are good, despite having periods where reproduction may be postponed or aborted. They have large litters from which a best few will be selected by their ability to survive and grow faster in competition with their siblings.

Other: They have broad, fluffy feet for traction and to help avoid losing energy on sand, which is unstable and shifts under their weight. They also have long toe claws to rake into semi-firm to firm ground while running, so they can deal with multiple terrains. Their partially retractable front claws are also good for raking the dirt, but to loosen it and move it when digging.