Sylvilagus insonus Nelson, 1904:103
Omilteme cottontail, Omiltemi rabbit
Taxonomy & Nomenclature
Synonym/s: Lepus insonus Nelson, 1904:103
Conservation Status
Last record: 1991 (sighting); 1998 or before (skin) (both Cervantes et al., 2004)
Rediscovered in: July 2009 (Lorenzo & Almazaán-Catalán, 2025 [date only])
IUCN RedList status: Data Deficient
One recent sighting (1991) and one skin obtained from hunters (1998) may indicate that this species still survives (Cervantes et al., 2004). It's nocturnal habit may explain the absence of recent records of the species, at least by western scientists. It may be ethnoknown, as evidenced by the putatively recent skin obtained from hunters. It was listed as Extinct by (WCMC, 1992:213). Further records of the species have been made since July 2009 (Lorenzo & Almazaán-Catalán, 2025).
Distribution & Habitat
Sierra Madre del Sur (near Omiltemi), Guerrero State, Mexico
Biology & Ecology
Hypodigm
Media
References
Original scientific description:
Nelson, E. W. (1904). Description of seven new rabbits from Mexico. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington 17: 103-110.
Other references:
Cervantes, F. A. and Lorenzo, C. (1997). Sylvilagus insonus. Mammalian Species 568: 1-4.
Cervantes, F. A., Lorenzo, F. J. and González, F. X. (2004). The Omilteme rabbit (Sylvilagus insonus) is not extinct. Mammalian Biology 69(1): 61-64.
Chapman, J. A. and Ceballos, G. (1990). Chapter 5: The Cottontails, pp. 95-110. In: Chapman, J. A. and Flux, J. C. (eds). Rabbits, hares and pikas: status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.
Diersing, V. E. (1981). Systematic status of Sylvilagus brasiliensis and S. insonus from North America. Journal of Mammalogy 62: 539-556.
Fisher, Diana O. (2011). Trajectories from extinction: where are missing mammals rediscovered? Global Ecology & Biogeography 20: 415-425. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2010.00624.x [Appendix S1]
Gureev, A. A. (1964). Fauna SSSR, Mlekopitayushchie, tom. 3, vyp. 10, Zaitseobraznye (Lagomorpha) [Fauna of the USSR, mammals, vol. 3, pt. 10, Lagomorpha]. Nauka, Moscow-Leningrad, 276 pp. (in Russian).
Hall, E. R. (1981). The Mammals of North America. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
Hershkovitz, P. (1950). Mammals of northern Colombia. Preliminary report no. 6: Rabbits (Leporidae), with notes on the classification and distribution of the South American forms. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 100: 327-375.
Lorenzo, Consuelo and Almazán-Catalán, José Alberto. (2025). Omiltemi Cottontail Sylvilagus insonus (Nelson, 1904). In: Lorenzo Monterrubio, C. and Mora, J. M. (eds.). Mammals of Middle and South America: Lagomorpha, Handbook of the Mammals of Middle and South America. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31564-0_11-1
Lorenzo, C., Brown, D. E. and Lanier, H. C. (2019). Sylvilagus insonus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T21207A45180771. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-2.RLTS.T21207A45180771.en. Accessed on 30 March 2026.
Lorenzo, C., Cervantes, F. A., Vargas, J. and Farrera-Muro, R. (2018). Sylvilagus insonus (Nelson, 1904) Omiltemi rabbit, pp. 144-145. In: Smith, A. T., Johnston, C. H., Alves, P. C. and Hackländer, K. (eds.). Lagomorphs: Pikas, Rabbits, and Hares of the World. Baltimore, MA: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Mexican Association for Conservation and Study of Lagomorphs (AMCELA), Romero Malpica, F. J. and Rangel Cordero, H. (2008). Sylvilagus insonus. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. (http://www.iucnredlist.org). Downloaded on 17 August 2013.
Nelson, E. W. (1909). The rabbits of North America. North American Fauna 29: 1-313.
WCMC (World Conservation Monitoring Centre). (1992). Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's living resources. London: Chapman & Hall. xx + 594 pp.
https://extinctanimals.proboards.com/thread/2993/sylvilagus-insonus-omiltemi-rabbit