Description
Baseline biodiversity inventories are essential for tracking faunal change, identifying conservation priorities, and supporting management decisions. We present an annotated checklist of Virginia Lagomorpha (Leporidae), synthesizing occurrence evidence from published literature, community-science observations (iNaturalist), and aggregated historical museum/occurrence data from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). The checklist documents four native taxa in Virginia: Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), Appalachian Cottontail (S. obscurus), Marsh Rabbit (S. palustris), and Snowshoe Hare (Lepus americanus virginianus). Records indicate that S. floridanus is widespread across most of the state, whereas S. obscurus is restricted to high-elevation forested landscapes associated with the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Highlands. S. palustris occurs primarily in southeastern coastal plain wetlands, and L. a. virginianus persists in isolated localities in Highland County. Community-science data refine distributional knowledge and can reveal range-edge persistence; however, rigorous vetting is necessary because misidentifications occur, particularly between S. floridanus and S. obscurus (with skull morphology required for positive identification). By integrating validated community-science observations with historical and literature-based records, this checklist provides an updated framework for documenting regional lagomorph biodiversity and guiding future monitoring and conservation planning in Virginia.