Coastal tapeti

The coastal tapeti (Sylvilagus tapetillus), also known as the Rio de Janeiro dwarf cottontail or dwarf tapeti, is a species of cottontail rabbit native to Brazil. Known from only three specimens, captured in the late nineteenth century in the Paraíba Valley, it was for a long time considered to be a subspecies of the common tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis). Slightly smaller than its close relative, analysis in 2017 confirmed that it is sufficiently distinct in both appearance and genetics to be considered a species in its own right.^[3] Due to destruction of its putative habitat in the densely populated Paraíba Valley, it is unclear whether or not the species still survives in the present day.^[1][4]

Coastal tapeti
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Lagomorpha
Family:	Leporidae
Genus:	Sylvilagus
Species:	S. tapetillus
Binomial name
Sylvilagus tapetillus Thomas, 1913
Synonyms[2]
Sylvilagus brasiliensis tapetillus R. S. Hoffmann & A. T. Smith, 2005

Taxonomy

The coastal tapeti was first described by Oldfield Thomas in 1913, who was at the time attempting to clarify the different species across the broad distribution of the common tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis), as traditionally defined in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus.^[5] The type specimen and species overall was originally described as "extremely small", and this characteristic was used to justify differentiating the species from others in the S. brasiliensis group.^[6] Its type locality was noted as "near Rezende, from Porto Real, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil" at an elevation of 1,280 feet (390 m).^[2] It was among the first species to be clarified as distinct from the common tapeti, with the one other clarified species known as of 2018 being the Andean tapeti (S. andinus).^[7]