Free Republic

European rabbits dug up Stone and Bronze Age artifacts on Skokholm Island. (Image credit: Fiona McAllister Photography via Getty Images) A fluffle of wild rabbits has dug up priceless archaeological treasures on an island off the coast of Wales, in the United Kingdom. The burrowing bunnies unearthed two artifacts — a 9,000-year-old Stone Age tool and a 3,750-year-old pottery piece, likely from a broken Bronze Age urn, according to the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, which manages Skokholm Island, where the objects were found. ________________________________________________________________ Archaeologists have discovered similar artifacts on the U.K.'s mainland, but these new findings...

One Perry resident tells KCCI she was one of two people bitten by a rabbit last Friday. Ramona Rustan said the rabbit jumped up and bit her and then hopped over to the neighbors' house. "It came around to her car and wouldn't let her out of her car," Rustan said. She called police. "The police department says it's been a rabbit that has been around terrorizing people," Rustan said. The Perry police gave KCCI a call report that details a 13-year-old girl who was also bitten by the rabbit. The 13-year-old will be getting a rabies shot. Rustan, who...

A rare and elusive rabbit has been found, held and photographed by a researcher from the University of East Anglia (UEA). The Annamite Striped rabbit, found in the forests of Laos and Vietnam, was first documented by rabbit expert Dr Diana Bell and colleagues from UEA’s School of Biological Sciences in the journal Nature in 1999. It has rarely been seen since. Researcher Sarah Woodfin, who is studying for a Masters in Applied Ecology and Conservation at UEA, set out on a three-month expedition to track the recently-discovered rabbit and study its habitat. But she didn’t expect to see one...

The genetic changes that transformed wild animals into domesticated forms have long been a mystery. An international team of scientists has now made a breakthrough by showing that many genes controlling the development of the brain and the nervous system were particularly important for rabbit domestication... The domestication of animals and plants, a prerequisite for the development of agriculture, is one of the most important technological revolutions during human history. Domestication of animals started as early as 9,000 to 15,000 years ago and initially involved dogs, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs. The rabbit was domesticated much later, about 1,400 years...