Structure of the inner ear of early lagomorphs

The structure of the inner ear in mammals is highly informative with respect to locomotor agility and hearing sensitivity. In our paper for the first time we studied the early evolutionary stage of the lagomorph hearing and balance organs. Based on the digital endocast of the bony labyrinth (housing the inner ear structures) of the North American lagomorph Megalagus turgidus, early Oligocene in age, we suggest that its hearing sensitivity and agility were within the range of modern rabbits. Megalagus was probably a woodland dweller and thus, less agile than hares (Lepus).