HAIR ARCHITECTURE OF THE DON HARE (LEPUS TANAITICUS, LEPORIDAE, LAGOMORPHA) FOUND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE PLEISTOCENE OF YAKUTIA

Using scanning electron microscopy (REM), we studied the architecture (external and internal design) of the hairs of an adult Pleistocene Don hare, a frozen mummy of which was first found in Yakutia. The architecture of the guard hairs of the Don hare, like that of other representatives of the genera Lepus and Oryctolagus, is shown to be unique (a furrowed shaft, a kind of columnar medulla and a chevron cuticle ornament). This varies in different areas of the pelage and is adapted to the habitation of this species in the extreme conditions of the Arctic (long fur, strongly developed hair medulla and its corrugated septum, peculiar hair on the soles of paws). A comparative morphological analysis of the hair of the (1) Don hare and Mountain hare (Holocene, Chukotka) has been performed, revealing a great similarity between these two species, (2) extinct and Recent species of hares, (3) hares and pikas, (4) hares and a number of other mammalian species. The features of hair architectonics in the hares and some other mammals are discussed in terms of species identification and adaptive traits.