Biogeographical history of rabbit since the last glaciation: New data

The first palaeontological records of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) were in Spain and the south of France. From these areas, the geographic distribution of this species has increased because of environmental factors and man. From the Pleistocene to the Neolithic, fluctuations of the species are tightly linked to those of climate and vegetation. Rabbits reach the North of France but do not cross the Loire. If this distribution is the same as on the continent from the Bronze Age to end of Antiquity, the animal was introduced in some Mediterranean islands (Balearic Islands and Zembra). From the beginning of the Middle Ages, man is the principal agent of dispersal : introduction first in Northern Europe and then in other parts of the World.