Content
- Does a rabbit lay an egg?
- How is a rabbit born?
- Mammals that lay eggs
- Why rabbit is a symbol of Easter
’Easter bunny, what do you bring for me? One egg, two eggs, three eggs like that.” You've certainly heard this song, right? The tradition of giving people eggs began many, many years ago and linking eggs to rabbits ends up confusing many people about how rabbits are born.
That's why in this PeritoAnimal article we'll explain if rabbit lays egg and clarifying doubts about how these animals are reproduced, we will detail which mammals lay eggs and also clarify why the rabbit is a symbol of Easter. Good reading!
Does a rabbit lay an egg?
Not, rabbit don't lay eggs. The rabbits, whose scientific name of the most common species is Oryctolagus cuniculus, are mammals and reproduce just like cats, dogs, horses and us humans. Doubts about its form of reproduction are directly related to our Easter traditions, which have the egg and the rabbit as some of its main symbols.
Rabbits are lagomorphic animals, belonging to the leporidae family - which means that they are animals that have the shape of a hare. From the time of ancient Egypt they were considered fertility icons as the female rabbit can give birth four to eight times a year and, in each of the pregnancies, it can have between eight and 10 pups. Therefore, there is no such thing as a rabbit's egg.
Here are other characteristics of rabbits:
- Wild rabbits live in burrows underground in groups with other rabbits.
- eat part of their own feces
- They have excellent night vision and an almost 360 degree vision.
- Rabbits are totally vegan, meaning they don't eat anything of animal origin
- Sexual maturity is reached between 3 and 6 months
- The female rabbit can have a litter every 28 or 30 days
- Your body temperature is high, ranging from 38°C to 40°C
- A wild rabbit lives up to two years, while a domestic rabbit lives, on average, between six and eight years
How is a rabbit born?
As we saw in their characteristics, rabbits are precocious animals with regard to their reproduction, being able to generate offspring even before 6 months of life.
The gestation of a rabbit lasts between 30 and 32 days and, after this period, the mother goes to her nest or burrows to have her bunnies in a safe environment. The delivery itself is extremely fast, lasting on average half an hour. These animals usually give birth at night or during the night, at times when they feel calmer and protected by darkness. Soon after the birth of the puppies begins the period of breast-feeding.
Mammals that lay eggs
By definition, mammals are vertebrate animals aquatic or terrestrial that are characterized by having mammary glands. The gestation of almost all of them occurs in the mother's uterus, however, there are two exceptions of mammals that lay eggs: the platypus and the echidna.
The platypus is of the order of the monotremes, an order of mammals with characteristics common to reptiles, such as laying eggs or having a cloaca. Another curiosity is about your cloaca, located in the back of the body, where the digestive, urinary and reproductive systems are located.
Females of this species reach sexual maturity from the first year of life and lay eggs once a year, laying one to three eggs in each litter. As we have seen, mammals usually have nipples, but platypus do not. A female's mammary glands are located in her abdomen. and by do not have nipples, they secrete milk through the pores of the skin. The chicks lick the milk from this region for about three months, which is the average lactation period among platypus.
The echidna is a mammal found in New Guinea and Australia and, like the platypus, is part of the order of the monotremes. THE female lays only one egg per litter and also has characteristics of its reptilian ancestors: the cloaca that brings together the reproductive, digestive and urinary apparatus.
After hatching the egg, the chick, still immature, blind and hairless, stays in the mother's purse for between six and eight weeks. There he licks the milk from his abdomen until he becomes stronger.
Why rabbit is a symbol of Easter
There are different versions that explain the reasons that lead to the association between the egg and the rabbit with the easter celebration.
The term "Passover" comes from the Hebrew, "pesah", which means passage and symbolized the passage from winter to spring among ancient peoples. And to celebrate the occasion, with the arrival of days with more light, the arrival of the fertility of the land, due to climate change, was celebrated. These peoples, whether Persian or Chinese, are known to decorate eggs and present each other as a gift to mark the spring equinox and rebirth. Furthermore, the ancient Romans suggested that the universe would have an oval shape and presenting people with chicken eggs thus became a common practice.
Among Christians, Easter today symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is, the passage from death to life.
In turn, it is believed that since the time of Ancient Egypt, the rabbit was already a symbol of fertility and a new life, precisely because of its rapid reproduction and the gestation of several pups per litter.
Some religious claim that when Mary Magdalene went to the tomb of Jesus Christ on Sunday, after his crucifixion, there was a rabbit trapped in the place and, therefore, he would have witnessed the resurrection of Jesus, and hence the association of the animal with Easter.
Thus, the connection between the egg and the rabbit as symbols of rebirth would have emerged and, centuries later, it seems that in the 18th century, the tradition gained a new flavor: the use of chocolate eggs, and no more chicken. Tradition that we follow until today.
And it is not because we associate rabbit and chocolate eggs that these animals can eat this food. Check out the feeding of rabbits in this video:
If you want to read more articles similar to Does a rabbit lay an egg?, we recommend that you enter our Curiosities section of the animal world.