Sardinian Pika
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| Sardinian Pika[1] | ||||||||||||||
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| Prolagus sardus (Wagner, 1832) |
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Prolagus corsicanus |
The Sardinian Pika (Prolagus sardus) was a pika native to the Mediterranean islands of Sardinia and Corsica until its extinction in the late 1700s or early 1800s. It was described by early Sardinian authors as "a giant rabbit with no tail", and it is believed that the Nuragici, the ancient peoples of Sardinia, viewed them as a delicacy. The Corsican Pika (formerly Prolagus corsicanus) is now considered to be conspecific with this species.
Some people believe that the Sardinian Pika still lives in the "wild" interior of Sardinia, and many others believe that it went extinct much more recently than scientific estimates. There are occasionally sightings of this pika, but so far none of them has been verified.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ Hoffmann, Robert S.; Andrew T. Smith (2005-11-16). in Wilson, D. E., and Reeder, D. M. (eds): Mammal Species of the World, 3rd edition, Johns Hopkins University Press, 193-194. ISBN 0-801-88221-4.
- ^ Lagomorph Specialist Group (1996). Prolagus sardus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 6 May 2006.
- ^ Prolagus sardus (html). EMA Database. European Mammal Assessment (EMA) (2007). Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
