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Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Wednesday Morning OT - Giant Rabbits of the Pliocene

 Good morning, folks. Like Nuralagus rex, I feel too big to hop. And I'm extinct.


About 10 times larger than a European hare and twice as heavy as a Flemish giant, this guy went extinct between 3 - 5 million years ago. Its bones were discovered in Minorca off the coast of Spain in the early 90s. He's an example of isolated gigantism. Part of the Mediterranean dried up between ~ 6 million years ago (Miocene Epoch), and lagomorphs traveled over a land bridge to Minorca, and once the Zanclean deluge (5.33 million years ago) returned Minorca to island status, Nuralagus had little competition for resources and no predators to flee from. Another desiccation of the Mediterranean brought competition from Majorca and eventually killed them off. 

What's on the schedule today?

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