I had a minor injury last week, and I’m just back to work today. While I catch up on my data-fixin’, I thought I’d pass this fun news on.

From the Toronto Star:

The skeleton of a giant rabbit about six times the size of a modern bunny has been found on an island off the coast of Spain.

The fossils of Nuralagus rex were found on the island of Minorca, according to details released Monday in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Dubbed the Minorcan King of the Rabbits, the bunny lived approximately 3 million to 5 million years ago and weighed about 26 pounds.

It’s so large that when lead author Dr. Josep Quintana from the Institut Català de Paleontologia found the first bone, at age 19, he thought it belonged to the giant Minorcan turtle.

But it isn’t just its massive size that separates it from Peter Cottontail.

While modern rabbits have long, springy spines, N. rex had a short stiff spine that would have made hopping difficult.[full article]

I love a) the idea of a giant clumsy pre-historic rabbit and b) the photoshop job that came with the article.