Death Cap vs European hare

Amanita phalloides compared with Lepus europaeus

Key Differences

• Death Cap is Least Concern while European hare is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Death Cap	European hare
Kingdom	Fungi (Fungi)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Basidiomycota (Club Fungi)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Agaricomycetes (Mushrooms)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Agaricales (Gilled Mushrooms)	Lagomorpha (Rabbits & Hares)
Family	Agaricaceae (Agarics)	Leporidae (Rabbits & Hares)
Genus	Amanita (Amanitas)	Lepus
Species	Amanita phalloides	Lepus europaeus

Conservation Status

Death Cap

LC — Least Concern

European hare

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Death Cap	European hare
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Death Cap

Habitat

Typically found in forest floors, decomposing wood, and soil ecosystems.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (4 countries), North America (United States), and South America (Chile).

European hare

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, tropical and subtropical dry broadleaf forests, and tropical and subtropical coniferous forests, among 7 distinct biome types within the Neotropic biogeographic realm. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Widely distributed across Europe (10 countries), North America (4 countries), and South America (8 countries). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

European hare

European hare (Lepus europaeus) is classified as Near Threatened (NT) on the IUCN Red List. Close to qualifying as threatened, with populations that may become vulnerable without conservation action.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 6 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇨🇱 Chile 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇳🇴 Norway 🇸🇪 Sweden 🇺🇸 United States