Is Bugs Bunny a Hare or a Rabbit?

Me and my girlfriend were watching one of the earliest Bugs Bunny cartoons on youtube (I think it was from the early 50s) and we gradually progressed to the Looney Tunes cartoon. I think he's a rabbit and she thinks he's a Hare...and these are the reasons

For Rabbit
Elmer Fudd always calls Bugs a "wabbit" so I'm thinking he's a rabbit
Actually a lot of antagonists in the cartoon refer to him as a rabbit
I learned in Biology that Rabbits live in burrows dug in the ground'

For Hare
Hares have much longer ears than rabbits, and he has huge ears
Many older cartoons include "hare" in the title, so she thinks he's a hare
And doing research online, I know that the term "hare" comes up sometimes, again typically as a pun—for example, Bugs drinking "hare tonic" to "stop falling hare" or being doused with "hare restorer" to bring him back from invisibility

What do you think?

Originally posted by vuelve88 Ummm... it's in his name... Bugs Bunny.... Bunny rabbit. Not bunny hare.

He is whatever is convenient for the plot of that particular episode.

Originally posted by vuelve88 Ummm... it's in his name... Bugs Bunny.... Bunny rabbit. Not bunny hare.

Death, bunny means child.

Both
Hes a hybrid

Originally posted by Siya Both Hes a hybrid

Originally posted by LDYGG Hare.

Didn't know there was a difference tbh.

Originally posted by RatedG² Actually his name is just Bugs Bunny. And a bunny can be a baby hare or rabbit, they are both referred to as "bunnies"

Originally posted by RatedG² Well, I guess we have our answer . Although it still doesn't explain why everyone calls him a rabbit, maybe they're confused

The animators throughout Bugs' history have treated the terms rabbit and hare as synonymous. Taxonomically, they are not synonymous, being somewhat similar but observably different types of lagomorphs. Hares have much longer ears than rabbits, so Bugs might seem to be of the hare family, yet rabbits live in burrows, as Bugs is seen to do. Many more of the cartoon titles include the word "hare" rather than "rabbit," as "hare" lends itself easily to puns ("hair," "air," etc.) although Elmer Fudd has always referred to Bugs as a "wabbit". Within the cartoons, although the term "hare" comes up sometimes, again typically as a pun—for example, Bugs drinking "hare tonic" to "stop falling hare" or being doused with "hare restorer" to bring him back from invisibility—Bugs as well as his antagonists most often refer to the character as a "rabbit." The word "bunny" is of no help in answering this question, as it is a synonym for both young hares and young rabbits. In Nike commercials with Michael Jordan, Bugs had been referred to as "Hare Jordan."

The creators/writers stated they used both rabbit and hare interchangeably.

Originally posted by Swaggie He is whatever is convenient for the plot of that particular episode.

Originally posted by Siya Both Hes a hybrid