Mountain hare lives at elevations from 700 to 3800 m, depending on biographic region and season. The mountain hare is a large species, though it is slightly smaller than the European hare. It grows to a length of , with a tail of , and a mass of , females being slightly heavier than males. In summer, for all populations of mountain hares, the coat is various shades of brown. In preparation for winter most populations moult into a white (or largely white) pelage. The tail remains completely white all year round, distinguishing the mountain hare from the European hare ("Lepus europaeus"),
European rabbit naked, have white flesh, and little sexual dimorphism. However, the two differ in skull characteristics, and cottontails do not habitually construct their own burrows as the European rabbit does. Molecular studies confirm that the resemblance between the two is due to convergent evolution, and that the European rabbit's closest relatives are the hispid hare, the riverine rabbit and the Amami rabbit. The oldest known fossils attributed to the modern European rabbit species are around 0.5 Ma old (Middle Pleistocene). , six subspecies are recognised. The European rabbit is smaller than the brown and mountain hare, and lacks black ear-tips, as