“…Amazon forest cottontails and the cottontails found in our study areas represent distinct molecular lineages, suggesting these putative taxa (Silva et al., 2019) may have different fundamental niches and habitat requirements. Despite long‐standing calls (de Faria et al., 2015; Grigera & Rapoport, 1983; Novillo & Ojeda, 2008), our study found little evidence of a negative influence of the non‐native European hares on the native cottontail habitat use, as predicted by the competitive exclusion hypothesis. In contrast to the native cottontail habitat use pattern we found, European hares are less likely to use sites predominantly covered by native forest and more likely to use human‐modified habitats (e.g., sugarcane fields, managed forests, and pastures) in southeastern Brazil (Pasqualotto et al., 2021).…”