Lepus cornutus

Horned hares, both as whimsical myths and supposed real creatures, were a staple of medieval and early Renaissance texts. They leapt from the pages of literature, with François Rabelais weaving them into his Gargantua and Pantagruel, while naturalists debated their existence in scholarly works. The first recorded claim of the lepus cornutus as a real species emerged from Conrad Gessner’s Historiae Animalium, which placed these antlered hares in the forests of Saxony.

The legend gained momentum as scientific texts echoed the claim, often featuring identical illustrations. John Jonston’s Historiae Naturalis de Quadrupetibus (1655) included striking depictions that resurfaced in later works, including Ruysch’s Theatrum Universale (1718). Gaspar Schott’s Physica Curiosa (1662) went even further, featuring the horned hare on its frontispiece, while Gabriel Clauder provided a firsthand account—complete with an illustration—in 1687. The fascination continued into the 18th century, with Jacob Theodor Klein adding his own rendition in Summa Dubiorum (1743).

By 1789, Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre’s Tableau Encyclopedique et Methodique became one of the last major works to present the lepus cornutus as a genuine species. As the Age of Enlightenment progressed, skepticism overtook belief, and by the early 19th century, horned hares were relegated to the realm of folklore—though some, like the 1817 Nouveau Dictionnaire d’Histoire Naturelle, still entertained the notion of their rarity.

Modern speculation suggests that these legendary creatures may not have been mere flights of fancy or the work of overzealous taxidermists. Instead, they could have been inspired by real hares afflicted with Shope papilloma virus, a disease that causes horn-like growths—blurring the line between myth and misunderstood reality.