en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=European_rabbit&diff=next&oldid=1369371603
3 corrections found
The European rabbit is the only species to be fatally affected by myxomatosis.
This is incorrect. Myxomatosis has also caused fatal disease in hares, including Iberian hares and European brown hares.
Full reasoning
This claim is contradicted by veterinary and public-health sources documenting fatal myxomatosis in hares, not just European rabbits.
- WOAH states that myxoma virus causes severe disease with high mortality in "some species of rabbits and hares", especially European rabbits.
- A 2025 CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases paper reports that recombinant myxoma virus caused deaths in European brown hares and states explicitly: "This study demonstrated that ha-MYXV infection caused death in European brown hares."
- A 2019 peer-reviewed paper in Viruses describes a recombinant myxoma virus in the Iberian hare after hares were found dead with lesions consistent with myxomatosis.
Because fatal myxomatosis is documented in multiple hare species, it is wrong to say the European rabbit is the only species fatally affected.
3 sources
- Myxomatosis - WOAH - World Organisation for Animal Health
MV causes a very mild disease in its original host native to South America, but in some species of rabbits and hares, especially European rabbits, it causes a severe disease with high mortality.
- Recombinant Myxoma Virus in European Brown Hares, 2023-2024 - Emerging Infectious Diseases (CDC)
This study demonstrated that ha-MYXV infection caused death in European brown hares.
- Genetic Characterization of a Recombinant Myxoma Virus in the Iberian Hare (Lepus granatensis)
Recently, a new cross-species jump of MYXV has been suggested in both Great Britain and Spain, where European brown hares (Lepus europaeus) and Iberian hares (Lepus granatensis) were found dead with lesions consistent with those observed in myxomatosis.
'Warren' comes from the Old English wareine, itself derived from the Old French warenne, varenne, or garenne.
This etymology is wrong: standard dictionaries trace 'warren' to late Middle English from Anglo-Norman/Old Northern French, not from Old English.
Full reasoning
The statement says warren comes from Old English wareine, but major dictionaries trace the word differently.
- Oxford's Advanced Learner's Dictionary gives the origin as late Middle English, from an Anglo-Norman French and Old Northern French variant of Old French garenne.
- Etymonline likewise traces warren to late 14th-century wareine, from Anglo-French and Old North French warenne.
So the word is not derived from Old English wareine; rather, wareine is a Middle English form borrowed from Anglo-Norman/Old Northern French.
2 sources
- warren noun - Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Word Origin late Middle English: from an Anglo-Norman French and Old Northern French variant of Old French garenne 'game park', of Gaulish origin.
- Warren - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
warren (n.) late 14c., wareine, 'piece of land enclosed for breeding beasts and fowls' ... from Anglo-French and Old North French warenne (Old French garenne) 'game park, hunting reserve'.
while the Iberian rabbit occurs in the south-west part of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain, Portugal and Andorra).
This range description is geographically inconsistent: Andorra is in the eastern Pyrenees, while O. c. algirus is described in the literature as the southwestern Iberian subspecies.
Full reasoning
The problem is the inclusion of Andorra in a parenthetical explanation of the south-west Iberian range.
- A peer-reviewed study on the two rabbit subspecies states that "O. c. algirus is localized in the southwest of Iberian Peninsula".
- Andorra's own tourism authority describes the country as being "in the heart of the Eastern Pyrenees" between Spain and France.
So Andorra is not part of the south-west Iberian range described for O. c. algirus. Including Andorra here is geographically incorrect.
2 sources
- Steep clines within a highly permeable genome across a hybrid zone between two subspecies of the European rabbit - PMC
Currently, the two rabbit subspecies are distributed parapatrically: O. c. algirus is localized in the southwest of Iberian Peninsula and O. c. cuniculus localized in the northeast of Iberian Peninsula and France.
- Essential information about Andorra
Andorra is located in southwestern Europe, in the heart of the Eastern Pyrenees. The country is bordered by the autonomous community of Catalonia in Spain and the department of Ariège in France.