Lepus capensis - #5506

As construed in the past, a single species (capensis sensu lato) inhabits Africa and the Near East in two separate, non-forested areas: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, S Angola, S Zambia (?), Mozambique; and to the north, Tanzania, Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, countries of the Sahel and Sahara, and N Africa; thence eastward through the Sinai to the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, S Syria, S Israel and W and S Iraq, west of the Euphrates River. However, there is no evidence of gene flow between the South African populations, and those "capensis" in East, West and North Africa, and the intervening areas are inhabited by other species of Lepus, particularly L. microtis). Herein, the name capensis will be restricted to the South African hare, and other names applied to East and North African, and Arabian-Near Eastern hares. This informal subdivision of capensis sensu lato creates four groups that might be considered as distinct species. However, pending sufficient data at this point to support a formal revision, this arrangement best reflects the poorly known relationships of the taxa.