Central American tapeti

Central American tapeti
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Lagomorpha
Family:	Leporidae
Genus:	Sylvilagus
Species:	S. gabbi
Binomial name
Sylvilagus gabbi (J.A. Allen 1877)
Synonyms
Sylvilagus brasiliensis gabbi J.A. Allen (1877)

The Central American tapeti (Sylvilagus gabbi) or Gabbi's cottontail is a species of cottontail rabbit native to southern Mexico and much of Central America. It was previously considered a subspecies of the common tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis) but analysis in 2017 confirmed that it is sufficiently distinct in both appearance and genetics to be considered a species in its own right.^[2] The name Gabbi's cottontail comes from American paleontologist William More Gabb.

The Central American Tapeti is distributed in Central America from eastern to southeastern Mexico to Panama. Thereby the range of the northern subspecies and nominate form Sylvilagus gabbi gabbi extends from Mexico (Tamaulipas, San Luis Potosí, Veracruz, Querétaro, Hidalgo, Puebla, Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco and Campeche) to Guatemala and Belize while the subspecies Sylvilagus gabbi truei occurs from Guatemala via Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica to Panama. The distribution of Sylvilagus gabbi truei is limited by the fact that the subspecies is not known to occur in Central America.^[3]