Sightings of virus-affected rabbits in North America are thought to have influenced the resurrection of the horned rabbit legend. Plate XLVII of Animalia Qvadrvpedia et Reptilia (Terra) by Joris Hoefnagel, circa 1575, showing a “horned hare” (Photo: Wikipedia) ![]() Stories and illustrations of horned rabbits as real animals last appeared in scientific books in the late 1700s, after which the idea of a horned hare as a distinct species was mostly rejected. Descriptions of horned hares as real or mythical creatures date back to medieval and early Renaissance times, appearing in Bavarian folklore and early scientific texts. Such papillomaviruses are found throughout the animal kingdom, including in other mammals, birds and reptiles.Īlthough American virologist Richard Shope discovered the virus in the 1930s, its distinctive symptoms in rabbits and hares have mystified and inspired people for centuries. If they develop near the mouth, the tumors can become large enough that they interfere with the host’s ability to eat, eventually causing starvation. Whereas HPV corrupts cells in the human cervix to build cancerous tumors, in rabbits the papillomavirus manifests as hard, keratinized horns. The Shope papilloma virus is a cancer-causing strain related to the human papillomavirus, or HPV. ![]() Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, African ArtĮastern Cottontail Rabbit, Sylvilagus floridanus.
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