Dice's cottontail
Kingdom
Phylum
Subphylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
SPECIES
Sylvilagus dicei

Dice's cottontail (Sylvilagus dicei ) is a species of cottontail rabbit in the family Leporidae. It is found in Costa Rica and Panama, in páramo and cloud forest habitats.

Appearance

Dice's cottontail is one of the larger cottontail rabbits. Its back is dappled black and brown and its flanks greyish-black. The blackish tail is tiny and the underparts are dull white. It has a brown patch on its throat.

Distribution

Geography

Continents
Biogeographical realms

Dice's cottontail is endemic to the Cordillera de Talamanca which straddles the border between Panama and Costa Rica. Its habitat is Alpine meadows and Páramo grasslands above the tree line. It also occurs in the oak-dominated cloud forests and high elevation shrublands at an altitude of up to 3,800 metres (12,500 ft) in Cerro Chirripó.

Dice's cottontail habitat map
Dice's cottontail habitat map
Dice's cottontail

Population

Population number

The IUCN lists Dice's cottontail in its Red Book of Endangered Species as "Data Deficient" as the species has been little studied and its population trend is unknown, but in 1996, it was listed as "Endangered". The IUCN has identified a number of threats that it may face. Coyotes have become established in the area and may prey on it, and other predators may also be on the increase. Degradation of the forest land is taking place as trees are cut down and the land turned to pasture. Fire is also a concern because the local inhabitants regularly burn the land for range control and this may result in loss of grass for forage and loss of suitable vegetation cover in which the cottontail can lie up by day. These factors are causing the animal's range to contract upward into the mountains; this area is a national park, which should provide some protection to the species.

Coloring Pages

References

1. Dice's cottontail Wikipedia article - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice's_cottontail
2. Dice's cottontail on The IUCN Red List site - https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/21209/45180947

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