As one well-known Soviet miniature said: "Rabbits are not only valuable fur…". And what else? Let's find out what a rabbit actually consists of and what features it has, especially since very often this type of mammal lives at home. Although there are farms where rabbits are bred for sale or consumption.
What does a rabbit look like?
The anatomy of a rabbit is similar to that of any other animal that feeds its young with milk. The rabbit body itself has the body itself, the head, as well as limbs, each of which is attached to the sternum or pelvis. If we consider the structure of the rabbit as a whole, we can see a very short neck connecting the head and torso, as well as a short tail.
Usually, when selecting rabbits for the reproduction of offspring, great attention is paid to the correct physique and the quality of wool. The rabbit must be with strong bonesand the correct shape of the head, developed back, as well as with the length of the paws accepted by the standards.
Rabbit Anatomy
Rabbits have rather primitive anatomical development. This can be seen from some signs, such as a spiral fold inside the cecum, the orbital salivary gland, the omentum is reduced, the pancreas is absent-minded, the inguinal passages are expanded, the paired scrotum is quite simplified in its function and structure, the penis is directed backward in the male half of the individuals, and the female has a double uterus.
Internal structure of the urinary system
In the anatomy of decorative rabbits, the urinary system is no different from the urinary system of other mammals, except for the smoothed expression of some parts of the left kidney and the distant location of the ureters from the bladder neck. An adult individual excretes up to 400 milliliters of urine per day, which contains phosphoric, hippuric and lactic acids. Rabbits also excrete up to 300 milligrams of nitrogen and up to 20 milligrams of sulfur in their urine.
Sense Organs
Features of the physiology of the structure of the rabbit and its sense organs are that they are particularly sensitive to the surrounding odors. Their vision and hearing are several times higher than the quality of the perceived signal from the outside, so they are nimble and fast. The visual qualities of a rabbit are recognized as monocular, which means that it can see separately with both the left and right eyes, but binocular vision is practically absent due to the superposition of the field of view of one of the eyes on the field of view of the other in a very small percentage. Benefits of rabbit visionis that the superposition of the field of view of both eyes occurs from behind, which means that the animal is provided with a circular view, which also contributes to a quick reaction.
Oral cavity
According to biological research, the structure of the oral cavity and teeth is very important in the life of all mammals, since its continued existence depends on the correct development. According to the anatomy of a rabbit, when he is first born, he already has sixteen teeth in his mouth. They are dairy, so over time they change to permanent ones. It happens very quickly - on the eighteenth day after birth.
An interesting fact is that rabbits have two pairs of incisors - in front and behind, both on the upper part of the jaw and on the lower one. Since they are rodents, their teeth are covered with enamel, but not like all rodents - on one outer side, but also on the inside. Moreover, its incisors grow throughout life. There are no fangs because the rabbit is a herbivore.
Skeleton
The structure of the rabbit skeleton looks like the axial skeleton itself, which is divided into two parts - the spine and skull, the skeleton of its front and hind limbs, as well as free limbs attached with belts. The weight of the rabbit skeleton is eight percent of the weight of the rest of the body, and this figure is much less than that of other domesticated animals. But the skeleton of newborn rabbits, on the contrary, weighs more than that of a mature individual andoccupies almost fifteen percent of the total mass.
In total, according to the anatomy of a rabbit, the skeleton consists of two hundred and twelve bones, and its shape is very interesting. His spine is hunched and the lower back is extended, the pelvis is increased in length, the neck is straight and short, the chest limbs are greatly shortened in comparison with the hind limbs. Such a peculiar appearance is associated with his lifestyle and the need for a quick reaction in the event of a threat from the outside. A similar structure is found in many animals that dig holes.
The inside of his skull is reduced, and the enlarged eye sockets have an overlapping hole. The length of the ears is usually equal to the length of the head, given that the latter is elongated. True, there are exceptions in the anatomy of decorative rabbits, when the ears are twice as long as the skull, and this is due to mutations that led to the emergence of a new species. The cervical spine is very difficult to notice, since it is short, and in the presence of thick hair it seems that the neck is basically absent. The knee joint on its back surface has two additional bones, for more comfortable and faster movement in the jump.
Limbs and torso
Despite the hunched loin and back, their bone structure is quite strong. At the end of the body is a curved small tail, under which there is an anus, as well as urogenital openings and organs (depending on the gender of the rabbit). Male genitals are hidden by skin and covered with fur, so they are only visible with a protruding point.
The front legs attached to the sternum are weak, as their participation in locomotion is seventy percent lower than that of the hind legs. But the hind limbs, in particular the feet, are endowed with great strength and power. Rabbit anatomy in pictures will give a complete vision and understanding of the above. The front legs are only a support, and the hind legs are the main motor element. To make a jump, the rabbit is repelled by two hind limbs at once.
Muscular frame
In the anatomy and physiology of rabbits, sufficiently developed muscles are distinguished, the weight of which is half the weight of its body. The muscles located in the lumbar region are especially powerful, since they are subjected to the greatest pressure and load. Rabbit muscles do not have large fatty layers, which are usually hidden in the intermuscular space, because of this, rabbit meat is considered tender and melts in the mouth after it is cooked. Also, rabbit meat is usually white due to the similar hue of the muscles (pale red).
But there are also red muscles. They are in the larynx, oropharynx, and so on. Due to the muscular frame, the dome-shaped diaphragm is well expressed in rabbits. Near the shoulder blades are additional muscles aimed at strengthening the vertebral section. Naturally, the strongest muscles are located in the lower back and hind limbs, and the muscles of the lower jaw are well developed due to the ability to gnaw through their food.
Digestive system
The internal structure of a rabbit fully reflects its vital activity. Yes, the digestive systemarranged in accordance with all the rules applicable to herbivores. The contents of the gastrointestinal tract, without additional food, takes up about nineteen percent of the total weight of the animal. Due to the large amount of roughage endowed with fiber, their large intestine is better developed than that of other herbivorous mammals. In turn, the abdominal region is significantly enlarged.
Again, due to the intake of a large amount of fiber, the structure of the rabbit's organs has undergone a number of changes. For example, an animal has a highly developed liver, as well as a partially subdivided stomach, and so on. An interesting feature is the saclike formation where the small intestine passes into the blind.
The length of the rabbit intestine reaches almost five hundred centimeters, that is, it exceeds the length of the body of an adult animal by almost thirteen times, and a young one by fifteen. This is due to the diet and the food itself, mostly rough.
Another oddity related to the digestive theme of rabbits is eating their own feces or coprophagia. According to scientists, a rabbit can eat up to eighty percent of its feces. Moreover, there is a difference in the stool itself: it is divided into hard daytime and soft nighttime, most of all eared people use the latter. All this is done to replenish protein and other nutrients.
Respiratory system
Lungs, like other vital internal organs, are located in a smallthoracic region, so they are all small in size. The frequency of inhalation and exhalation of a rabbit is usually equal to sixty cycles per minute, but when the ambient temperature rises to thirty and above, the rabbit begins to breathe up to two hundred and eighty times per minute. If ammonia appears in the air that the rabbit inhales, then the animal becomes seriously ill, and if its concentration rises to one and a half milligrams, it dies.
If we consider the lungs as a complex, they are three-lobed, however, the third apical part of the left lung is almost invisible and merges with the heart tissue. Such atrophy is associated with a slightly forward displacement of the heart. The right one is normally developed, and at its ends one can often find pawled growths or outgrowths, which indicates compression of the upper pulmonary part.
Cardiovascular system
The structure of the rabbit's heart is significantly different from the cardiovascular system of other domestic mammals. It is reduced to one hundred and sixty beats per minute, from which the average rabbit lives much less than other cats, dogs, and so on. A complete circulation of blood in the body of an animal occurs in eight seconds.
The distribution of blood through the vessels, the heart itself, the liver and other organs occurs at a rate of one to four. Total blood in the body of a rabbit is from thirty to seventy milliliters. The heart is poorly developed and displaced to the left side. It is elongated along the oblique inner part of the sternum.
Mammary glands
Both the mammary glands themselves and their nipples areskin derivatives and develop only after the start of feeding by the female of her cubs. The rest of the time they are in a reduced form and are hidden under the wool in the abdominal cavity. The number of nipples depends on the anatomy and physiology of rabbit reproduction, especially the difference is noticeable in heterogeneous individuals. On the female body, the nipples are distributed from the belly to the chest, capturing the inguinal wall. Each nipple is equipped with one to fourteen milk passages, at the ends open outwards.
Until the rabbits are twenty days old, the mother feeds them with her milk, and lactation itself continues until forty days after birth. The average milk consumption per rabbit per day is up to thirty milliliters. The first three days, milk contains immunoglobulin and bactericidal substances.
Genital organs and reproduction
A part of the male genital organs has already been mentioned. The scrotum, which contains the appendage and testis, is located next to the anus and is hidden under the coat. The lower temperature inside the scrotum, which is different from body temperature, allows the semen to be stored. The vas deferens is a kind of continuation of the appendage. It stretches through the groin into the peritoneum and pelvic zone, where it turns into an ampoule. The penis itself performs its direct two functions - it releases sperm and removes urine, freeing the urogenital canal. When the penis is inactive, its head is covered by the prepuce or skin, thereby protecting itself from possible damage.
In a female, the genital organs are presented in the form of paired ovaries and paired fallopian tubes, as well as unpaired -uterus, vagina and external genitalia. Reproduction of rabbits is possible when they reach four months. At this time, the spermatozoa in the male half and the egg in the female are already ripening, but most often breeders, of course, do not allow mating at such a young age, since the body may not be able to bear the load. Mating most often occurs at the age of seven months.
In order for contact to occur, the rabbit is placed in a cage with a male, and two weeks before the upcoming mating, the owners add special vitamin feed to her diet. The male is introduced to the diet of boiled potatoes, coupled with steamed oats. Rabbits are mammals whose estrus is triggered by the season and the mating process itself.
In the summer, unfertilized female rabbits require a male almost every five days, and in winter every nine. This behavior continues for up to three days. According to the structural features of the female rabbit, her uterus is bicornuate. This means that it is possible to impregnate a female rabbit twice, however, rabbits from the second litter are often stillborn.
