Evolution The earliest ancestor of rabbits and hares lived 55 million years ago in what is now Mongolia. Because the rabbit's epiglottis is engaged over the soft palate except when swallowing, the rabbit is an obligate nasal breather. As lagomorphs, rabbits have two sets of incisor teeth, one behind the other, a manner in which they differ from rodents, which only have one set of incisors. Another difference is that for rabbits, all of their teeth continue to grow, whereas for most rodents, only their incisors continue to grow. Carl Linnaeus originally grouped rabbits and rodents under the class Glires; later, they were separated as the scientific consensus is that many of their similarities were a result of convergent evolution. DNA analysis and the discovery of a common ancestor have supported the view that they share a common lineage, so rabbits and rodents are now often grouped together in the clade or superorder Glires.
Evolution The earliest ancestor of rabbits and hares lived 55 million years ago in what is now Mongolia. Because the rabbit's epiglottis is engaged over the soft palate except when swallowing, the rabbit is an obligate nasal breather. As lagomorphs, rabbits have two sets of incisor teeth, one behind the other, a manner in which they differ from rodents, which only have one set of incisors Another difference is that for rabbits, all of their teeth continue to grow, whereas for most rodents only their incisors continue to grow. Carl Linnaeus originally grouped rabbits and rodents under the class Glires; later, they were separated as the scientific consensus is that many of their similarities were a result of convergent evolution DNA analysis and the discovery of a common ancestor have supported the view that they share a common lineage, so rabbits and rodents are now often grouped together in the clade or superorder Glires.