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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Photo: Easter Surprise: World's Oldest Rabbit Bones Found


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Bones that a scientist picked up on a trip to India (including these ankle bones, far left) were later deemed to be the oldest known rabbit bones ever found, a new study says.

The ancient rabbit would have likely looked similar to a modern-day jackrabbit (right).

The new bones also show that advanced rabbit-like features evolved earlier than thought—as far back as the early Eocene, which lasted from 54.8 to 33.7 million years ago, experts say.

Bones photographs courtesy Rose et al., Proceedings of the Royal Society
of London B, 2008; Jackrabbit photograph by Jeremy Woodhouse/Photodisc/Getty Images