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Springhare — printable fact sheet
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Springhare
Pedetes capensis
The springhare (Pedetes capensis) is a southern African rodent that looks and moves like a small kangaroo: it hops bipedally on greatly enlarged hind legs, covering 2 metres or more in a bound, and balances with a long, black-tipped tail. It is not a hare and is not related to k…
Did you know?
- Despite their kangaroo-like appearance and hopping locomotion, springhares are actually rodents and not marsupials.
- Springhares glow pink and orange under UV light, an effect only reported in 2023 and unexplained. They plug their burrow entrances behind them with soil during the day, which is why the burrows look abandoned. They can leap over 2 metres in a single bound and change direction mid-flight. Despite resembling a kangaroo, a springhare is a rodent with no close living relatives at all.
What I learned
Draw the springhare
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