The Flemish Giant originated in Flanders. It was bred as early as the 16th century near the city of Ghent, Belgium. It is believed to have descended from a number of meat and fur breeds, possibly including the "Steenkonijn" ("Stone Rabbit"—referring to the old Belgian weight size of one stone or about ) and the European "Patagonian" breed (now extinct). This "Patagonian" rabbit, a large breed that was once bred in Belgium and France, was not the same as the Patagonian rabbit of Argentina ("Sylvilagus brasiliensis"), a wild species of a different genus weighing less than , nor the Patagonian mara ("Dolichotis patagonum"), sometimes called the Patagonian hare, a species in the cavy family of rodents that cannot interbreed with rabbits.