Sylvilagus brasiliensis
Silhouette: T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~50%
The common tapeti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis), also known as the Brazilian cottontail, forest cottontail, or (formerly) simply tapeti is a species of cottontail rabbit. It is small to medium-sized with a small, dark tail, short hind feet, and short ears. As traditionally defined, its range extends from southern Mexico to northern Argentina, but this includes several distinctive population that have since been split into separate species. Under this narrower definition, the true common tapeti only occurs in the Atlantic Rainforest of coastal northeastern Brazil and it is classified as an endangered species by the IUCN. The American Society of Mammalogists concurs, but also tentatively classifies several distinct populations that have not yet received proper species names into S. brasiliensis, and so considers it to range from Venezuela south to Argentina.
The species was first described scientifically by Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, published in 1753. The type locality was in Pernambuco, Brazil. In addition to its vernacular name "tapeti", it commonly known as the "forest cottontail" or "Brazilian cottontail".
As many as 37 subspecies of the tapeti... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | El Impenetrable National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 2 | Chapada Diamantina National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Iguazú National Park | 🇦🇷 Argentina | |
| 4 | Iguaçu National Park | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 5 | Manu National Park | 🇵🇪 Peru | |
| 6 | Tambopata National Reserve | 🇵🇪 Peru |
No species of the same family or order lives in Tambopata National Reserve, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Tapeti sighting in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, based on 5 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 28th most-seen of the 28 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 50%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and October
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Tapeti in Tambopata National Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in March–June, September and November–January, the lowest months. Those are among Tambopata National Reserve's wettest months, with about 310 mm of rain a month against 45 mm in July.
Between 6 and 9 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Tapeti sightings with a recorded time, and about 6 in 10 of them come between 6 pm and 6 am: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
6th of 6
Of the 6 parks where we can rate Tapeti sightings, Tambopata National Reserve ranks 6th at about 10%. The best odds are in El Impenetrable National Park (Argentina, about 30%), Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil, about 20%) and Iguazú National Park (Argentina, about 20%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Tapeti is recorded against all the mammals logged in Tambopata National Reserve (5 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
