The Central American tapeti (''Sylvilagus gabbi'') or Gabbi's cottontail is a species of

cottontail rabbit Cottontail rabbits are in the ''Sylvilagus'' genus, which is in the family Leporidae. They are found in the Americas. Most ''Sylvilagus'' species have stub tails with white undersides that show when they retreat, giving them their characterist ...

native to southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

and much of

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

. It was previously considered a subspecies of the

common tapeti The common tapeti (''Sylvilagus brasiliensis''), also known as the Brazilian cottontail, forest cottontail, or (formerly) simply tapeti is a species of cottontail rabbit. It is small to medium-sized with a small, dark tail, short hind feet, and s ...

(''Sylvilagus brasiliensis'') but analysis in 2017 confirmed that it is sufficiently distinct in both appearance and genetics to be considered a species in its own right. It is closely related to the

northern tapeti The northern tapeti (''Sylvilagus incitatus'') is a species of cottontail rabbit related to the Central American tapeti (''Sylvilagus gabbi''). Its type locality is an island in the Pearl Islands of Panama. Previously it was considered a subspec ...

, which some authors describe as a subspecies of ''S. gabbi''. The name Gabbi's cottontail comes from American

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

William More Gabb William More Gabb (January 16, 1839 – May 30, 1878) was an American paleontologist. Gabb was born and educated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the leading center of American science at the time. He graduated from Jefferson Grammar School at ...

Range and distribution

The Central American Tapeti is distributed in Central America from eastern to southeastern Mexico to Panama. Thereby the range of the northern subspecies and nominate form Sylvilagus gabbi gabbi extends from Mexico (Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche) to Guatemala and Belize while the subspecies Sylvilagus gabbi truei occurs from Guatemala via Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica to Panama. The distribution of Sylvilagus gabbi truei is limited by the fact that the subspecies is not known to occur in Central America.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q61722418 Mammals described in 1877 Sylvilagus Mammals of North America Taxa named by Joel Asaph Allen