Marsh rabbit Marsh rabbit The marsh rabbit ("Sylvilagus palustris") is a small cottontail rabbit found in marshes and swamps of coastal regions of the Eastern and Southern United States. It is a strong swimmer and found only near regions of water. It is similar in appearance to the eastern cottontail ("Sylvilagus floridanus") but is characterized by smaller ears, legs, and tail. The scientific name "Sylvilagus palustris" derives from a combination of the Latin words "silva" ("forest") and "lagos" ("hare"), plus "palustris" ("of the marsh"). The marsh rabbit has commonly been associated with the group of swamp rabbits; however, this name is not
European rabbit intended meaning. Like the Phoenicians, neither the later Greek nor Roman colonizers had a specific name for the rabbit, because the species is not native to Greece and Italy (though it is present there nowadays). They commonly called it "small hare" and "small digging hare", in contrast to the European hare, which is larger and doesn't make burrows. Catullus used the name "cuniculus" (a latinization of the Iberian word "kiniklos" and the etymological origin of the Castilian name "conejo", Portuguese "coelho" and Catalan "conill", and the old English name, "coney"), and referenced its abundance in Celtiberia by calling this region