Angora

Rabbits are one of the oldest mammals dating back at least 30millions years, however, they were one of the last animals to be domesticated. French Catholic monks started to keep them for meat about 1,400 years ago. It is quite a diverse Genus of mammals with 50 species including hares and jackrabbits, with the domesticated rabbits all descended from the European wild rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus. Over 100 breeds of tame rabbits have descended from this lone species. Historically the European wild rabbit was thought to be limited to southwestern Europe in countries such as Spain and Portugal but have now colonised the continent. The Phoenician sailors of 3000 years ago upon discovering Spain called the area i-shephan-im which means the land of the rabbit!
The primary source of rabbit fibre is the Angora, although other fuzzy breeds also grow spinnable wool they are much smaller and therefore not commercially viable for yarn production. The iconic long coat of the Angora, favoured by pet owners and wool producers is a result of a specific gene, the Angora gene, and has been bred into other breeds, such as lion head and Jersey woolie.
The origin of the Angora rabbit is debatable although the name implies that they came from modern-day Turkey (Angora is the historic name of Ankara, the capital city of Turkey), whilst others argue that they were first bred in Britain. They became a firm favourite with the French Royalty after their first arrival into France in 1723 and spread throughout Europe by the end of the century. Whatever their origins there are at least 11 recognised breeds, depending on which country you live in will depend on the breeds that are recognised, common ones are English, French, Giant and Satin Angora, whilst others include German, Chinese, Finnish, Japanese, Korean Angora, Russian, St Lucian and Swizz Angora… I think you may have picked up the theme here.