European hare adaptions for high speed running in hares include wider nostrils and larger hearts. In comparison to the European rabbit, the hare has a proportionally smaller stomach and caecum. This hare is one of the largest of the lagomorphs. Its head and body length can range from with a tail length of . The body mass is typically between . The hare's elongated ears range from from the notch to tip. It also has long hind feet that have a length of between . The skull has nasal bones that are short, but broad and heavy. The supraorbital ridge has well-developed
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