Among furries there seems to be several imagined worlds where instead of humans there exist bipedal versions of feral animals who have evolved intelligence and constructed civilizations very similar to our own. I'm interested in the biology behind this set of events. If I set aside the set of circumstances required for these animals all to evolve into a single ecological niche (not likely, as evidenced by the fact that humans are the only sentient creatures on the planet), it makes sense for many animals to have gone through an evolutionary path similar to our own. Here I demonstrate this through the rabbit's evolutionary path.

Figure A is the base, feral stage: a common rabbit.

Figure B: the "monkey stage." It has developed longer limbs for more diverse movement. The animal's prime method of movement is still hopping, but the pelvis has changed shape slightly to be less specialized.

Figure C: The "ape stage." The animal has developed rudimentary thumbs, in addition to a more upright posture which allows for manipulation of the animal's environment. The legs are still very powerful, and the animal can jump very well, but it walks now instead of hops. The animal's run, however, is still a similar movement as the animal in Figure A.

Figure D: The "human stage". This is a fully developed Oryctolagus sapiens. All locomotion is bipedal. The arms of the creature are fairly weak and short compared to the still-powerful legs. Skull shape has changed somewhat to produce binocular vision, and the brain case has rounded slightly. Some head hair has developed on certain specimens as a secondary sexual characteristic. The creature has full intellectual capacity and ability for speech.