Why do these rabbits do handstands and walk on their front paws instead of hopping?

boing
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Originally published at: Why do these rabbits do handstands and walk on their front paws instead of hopping? | Boing Boing

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Because they’re extra?

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If it were not for the fact that I read about this a week or so ago, and Pesco posted it today, I’d have definitely marked it up as an April 1st story.

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Those are Circus Rabbits, not to be confused with Carnival Bunnies.

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Yay! Inbred neuro dysfunction! Let’s keep breeding them!

(ugh… had a long week of french bulldog associated congenital defect problems…)

Please do not breed animals with known genetic issues.

sincerely,
A veterinarian.

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Is this an example of one of those mutations that cause evolution?

I’m guessing this particular one doesn’t have any survival advantage though so will probly be an evolutionary dead end, but if it did, would it be?

It’s a genuine question.

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Technically, every mutation is evolution. With no reproductive advantage traits get removed from the gene pool due to expenses associated with no advantage.

This one though… Seems like it would be maladaptive in the wild, but it’s appealing to humans, who selectively breed animals with this trait, so it does confer an advantage (albeit an artificially created one). Again, see examples of artificially bred animals with a shit ton of negative traits that exist only because humans are total assholes (again, see french bulldogs…)

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Thanks.

When I saw the rabbit do the handstand I didn’t think it was cute, it filled me with horror. It seems wrong to me to breed that trait.

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FTFY!

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@Mercenary_Garage

The one thing that baffles me about the evolution of the rabbits (introduced species) around my home is that they have OK camouflage except that the underside of the tails is pure white - so when bouncing away the tail acts as a flashing beacon to any predator!?

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I’d bet much like whitetail deer, it serves as a flash warning to other (related) animals. Also, if a bunch of prey bolt in different directions all at once, that can be pretty distracting/confusing to a predator.

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As a person sharing a home with two rabbits, just the picture filled me with horror. Rabbit’s spines aren’t evolved to handle the type of pressure a hand stand will put on it. This is a cruel experiment, and will lead to a cruel, and painful end for the poor creatures. :cry:

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We’ve done a lot to a lot of “domestic” breeds. Just in rabbits, see “Flemish white”, then google “spinal fractures”. I get that we bred giant breed meaty rabbits, well… for meat, so theoretically a fractured back in a full sized animal doesn’t matter. Because meat.

Then we started keeping them as pets. Pets that can snap their own backs if startled or if lifted incorrectly… Oh well, it’s not like you need an intact spine for anything. Oh Wait…

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