Lepus californiens Gray, 1837 . Mag. Nat. Hist. [Charlesworth's], 1:586.

TYPE LOCALITY: "St. Antoine" [probably near Mission of San Antonio, California, USA]. Discussed by Hall (1981:326) .

DISTRIBUTION: Hidalgo and S Queretaro to N Sonora and Baja California (Mexico), north to SW Oregon and C Washington, S Idaho, E Colorado, S South Dakota, W Missouri, and NW Arkansas (USA). Apparently isolated population in SW Montana.

STATUS: Secure; range is expanding at expense of L. callotis and L. townsendi (Flux and Angermann, 1990) .

SYNONYMS: altamirae Nelson, 1904; asellus Miller, 1899; bennettii Gray, 1843; curti Hall, 1951; depressus Hall and Witlow, 1932; deserticola Mearns, 1896; eremicus J. Allen, 1894; festinus Nelson, 1904; griseus Mearns, 1896; magdalenae Nelson, 1907; martirensis Stowell, 1895; melanotis Mearns, 1890; merriami Mearns, 1896; micropus J. Allen, 1903; richardsonii Bachman, 1839; sheldoni Burt, 1933; texianus Waterhouse, 1848; tularensis Merriam, 1904; vigilax Dice, 1926; wallawalla Merriam, 1904; xanti Thomas, 1898.

COMMENTS: Subgenus Proeulagus (Gureev, 1964:193) .