A team of Indigenous community members and international scientists has confirmed the first scientific record of the cottontail rabbit Sylvilagus parentum in Rupununi, Guyana.
A release yesterday from the South Rupununi Conservation Society said that the confirmation significantly expands the known distribution of one of South America’s least-known mammals. The discovery has now been published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Mammalia.
Although residents of the Wapichan community of Karaudarnau have known of the rabbit’s presence for generations, the release said that the species had never before been scientifically documented in Guyana.
The first scientific evidence came in 2020, when the Rupununi Wildlife Research Unit (RWRU), working through the Sustainable Wildlife Management (SWM) Programme, captured images of the rabbit on a camera trap in Karaudarnau Village, Region 9. The photographs constituted the first scientific record of this rabbit from Guyana but were insufficient to determine the animal’s identity.
Further evidence came during the preparation of the Mammals of the Rupununi field guide in 2021. Community discussions disclosed that Karaudarnau was the only community in the Rupununi where residents consistently reported the presence of rabbits, underscoring Indigenous knowledge that the species had long inhabited the area. Community members also revealed the Wapichan name for the rabbit, “Kazoo Tain”, highlighting the local knowledge of the species.
To determine the rabbit’s identity, the release said that researchers from the RWRU, the South Rupununi Conservation Society (SRCS), and Karaudarnau Village partnered with scientists from the Field Museum (USA) and the Royal Ontario Museum (Canada) in 2023 to collect four adult specimens for detailed scientific analysis.
At the time, the release said that the researchers did not know whether the rabbit represented an introduced species, an undescribed species, a previously unknown subspecies or a species already known to science.
Genetic analyses have now confirmed that the rabbit is Sylvilagus parentum, a species that was formally described only in 2017. Before this discovery, confirmed specimens had been collected only from western Suriname more than 40 years ago. The release said that the Guyana record therefore represents a major extension of the species’ known geographic range and provides important new information on its distribution.
The findings have now been published in Mammalia, providing the first peer-reviewed scientific confirmation of Sylvilagus parentum in Guyana and making the discovery available to researchers around the world.
“This discovery demonstrates the remarkable value of combining Indigenous knowledge with modern scientific research,” said Dr. Adam Ferguson, Negaunee Collection Manager of Mammals at the Field Museum. “The people of Karaudarnau have known this rabbit existed for generations. By working together, we have been able to document it scientifically and contribute important new knowledge about one of the Guiana Shield’s least-known mammals”, he said.
The release said that the discovery raises exciting new questions about the species’ ecology, conservation status and distribution. Researchers are now planning further surveys to determine the rabbit’s full range within Guyana, estimate its population size, better understand its habitat requirements and ecology, and gather the information needed for an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List assessment.
It also adds another species to Guyana’s already extraordinary biodiversity, the release said.
“Despite being recognised as one of the world’s most biologically rich countries, Guyana continues to yield important scientific discoveries through ongoing research and partnerships with Indigenous communities”, the SRDC release stated.
It said that the confirmation of Sylvilagus parentum underlines how much remains to be discovered about the country’s wildlife and reinforces Guyana’s position as a globally significant location for biodiversity conservation.
The discovery, the SRDC said, also highlights the importance of long-term biodiversity monitoring and the vital role that Indigenous communities play in expanding scientific knowledge.
Discussion