biology

Nesolagus

Nesolagus is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Nesolagus rather than just read about it. In short: Nesolagus is a genus of rabbits containing three species of striped rabbit: the Annamite striped rabbit, the Sumatran striped rabbit, and the extinct N. sinensis. Overall there is very little known about the genus as a whole, most information coming from the Sumatran rabbit.

Key takeaways

Nesolagus belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Nesolagus to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Nesolagus from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Nesolagus is a genus of rabbits containing three species of striped rabbit: the Annamite striped rabbit, the Sumatran striped rabbit, and the extinct N. sinensis. Overall there is very little known about the genus as a whole, most information coming from the Sumatran rabbit.

Taxonomy Until 1996, the only known species belonging to the genus Nesolagus was the Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri), a species restricted to the Sumatran mountain range of Bukit Barisan which was described in 1880 (as Lepus netscheri) by German naturalist Hermann Schlegel. The name Nesolagus was erected by Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major in 1899, though he did not clarify if it should describe a genus on its own or a subgenus of Caprolagus; it was solidified as a genus containing the Sumatran striped rabbit in 1904 by Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr. in his work Classification of the Hares and their Allies. The genus Nesolagus includes three species, one extinct:

Nesolagus netscheri, Sumatran striped rabbit Nesolagus timminsi, Annamite striped rabbit †Nesolagus sinensis, early Pleistocene of China According to phylogenetic analysis performed by Leandro Iraçabal and colleagues in 2024, the genus is thought to have evolved in the Miocene epoch. Its sister clade is a group that includes the red rock hares (Pronolagus) and the Bunyoro rabbit (Poelagus marjorita):

Behavior Due to the small number of individuals, and because of the rare sightings of this genus, there is not much information available on its behavior. One thing that we do know however, is that the Sumatran rabbit is nocturnal and hides out in burrows which it does not make itself and does not really like to go out looking for food for itself in places that are too far from its home.

Description Descriptions of the species are partly based on images made by camera traps; for the Sumatran striped rabbit the cameras were set in the montane forests of Sumatra, while the Annamite Striped rabbit was seen in the Annamite mountain range of Laos and Vietnam. Both species of striped rabbit have seven brown or black stripes and a red rump and white underside. They are the only species of rabbits to have stripes. They are relatively small with a length of about 368–417 mm (14.5–16.4 in), with a tail of about 17 mm (0.67 in) and ears about 43–45 mm (1.7–1.8 in) long. Thus the ears of Nesolagus are only about half as long as in most rabbits, e.g. in the genus Lepus. Their fur is soft and dense, overlaid by longer, harsher hairs.

Distribution Striped rabbits are found in only four locations. The Sumatran striped rabbit has been found in the Barisan Mountains in western Sumatra, Indonesia, and the Annamite striped rabbit has been found in the Annamite mountains on the border between Vietnam and Laos. The fossils (parts of the left mandible with several teeth) of the extinct Nesolagus sinensis were found in Chongzou Ecological Park in the Guangxi province of southwest China.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Nesolagus

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Nesolagus claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Nesolagus before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Nesolagus ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Nesolagus

In research: Nesolagus appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Nesolagus in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Nesolagus is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Mammal genera, Nesolagus, Rabbits, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Nesolagus outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Nesolagus in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Nesolagus means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Nesolagus out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nesolagus in simple terms?

Why does Nesolagus matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Nesolagus?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Nesolagus.