Rabbits
History & heritage

Follow the story behind the name.

Domestic rabbit breeds belong to the European rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus. They are lagomorphs, not rodents, and should not be confused with hares or with every wild rabbit species. European rabbits have been used for meat, skins, wool and companionship, giving human selection several different directions.

Domestication is a process rather than a single easily assigned birthday. Research on rabbit history warns that archaeological, genetic and historical evidence do not neatly identify one moment when all rabbits became domestic. A breed chapter can be more precise about its own documented development, standards and breeders without pretending that the whole species has one certain founding date.

Domestic animal history is made of many local stories. A species tells us about broad biological relationships; a breed or strain connects those relationships with a landscape, a community and generations of selection. The histories in this world follow those individual populations so regional differences can remain visible.

Some populations were deliberately developed from named foundation stock. Others took shape through long use in a region before a formal standard or studbook existed. The date of a breed society’s founding therefore need not be the date the animals first existed. Historical accounts need to identify which event a date describes.

Begin with a breed’s own story