Si pensa che il prolago sardo si estinse a causa dell’introduzione sulle isole in cui viveva di nuovi predatori (come cani e gatti) e altri animali che avevano un’alimentazione simile alla sua, cioè conigli e lepri, da parte dei romani. Può anche darsi che questi animali gli abbiano trasmesso virus a cui non si era adattato. L’immagine è una ricostruzione fatta a partire dai reperti ossei.
Qui potete trovare delle informazioni sul ritrovamento dei suoi resti presso l’isola di Tavolara https://www.pressreader.com/italy/corriere-della-sera-sette/20150821/284021895796993
The Sardinian prolagus (Prolagus sardus) was a type of animal related to hares and rabbits, lived in Sardinia and Corsica and probably became extinct in ancient Roman times, although some specimens are thought to have survived even up to the eighteenth century or Nineteenth century in some small islands, such as Tavolara. The complete skeletal structure of this animal was rebuilt in 1967, thanks to numerous bones found in the cave of Corbeddu, in the province of Nuoro: we have no direct testimony of how it looked, but according to scientists it had to resemble a middle ground between a rabbit and a pica. In the Neolithic era it was one of the major sources of food for the inhabitants of Sardinia and Corsica.
It is believed that the Sardinian prolagus became extinct due to the introduction on the islands where it lived of new predators (such as dogs and cats) and other animals that had a feeding similar to his, that is, rabbits and hares, by the Romans. It may also be that these animals transmitted viruses to him that he had not adapted to. The image is a reconstruction made from bone findings.
