Three species are restricted to Southern Africa, while one—Smith's red rock hare (P. rupestris)—is found as far north as Kenya.

The red rock hares are rufous, dark brown, or reddish-brown-tailed rabbits that vary in size, with some shared physical characteristics being short ears and a lack of an interpareital bone.

[6] The genus Pronolagus was proposed by Marcus Ward Lyon, Jr. in 1904, based on a skeleton that had been labeled Lepus crassicaudatus I. Geoffroy, 1832.

Further investigation into the fossil record of Pronolagus has recognized the extinct species P. humpatensis from Angola's Humpata Plateau, a small red rock hare of size comparable to that of wild European rabbits or P. rupestris.

[17] Documentation of the history of lagomorphs across the whole of Africa has been described as "poor", though fossils of three families are present there—Leporidae, Ochotonidae, and the extinct Prolagidae.

[28][29] The Pronolagus chromosomes have undergone four fusions and one fission from the Lagomorpha ancestral state (2n = 48), which resembles the karyotype of Lepus.

[14] The red rock hares are of varying size, but are readily distinguished from other leporids in Southern Africa by their reddish-brown to dark brown colored tail and short (63–109 mm (2.5–4.3 in)) ears.

[27] The varied and often disjunct distribution of the red rock hares has been attributed to the rocky habitat of the species within the genus, as they do not inhabit plains or forests.

[35] In regions where species are sympatric, as is the case in some parts of South Africa, individuals are separated by differing preferences in habitat altitude; Hewitt's red rock hare is generally found at higher altitudes with more rainfall than the other red rock hares, which prefer drier, lower locations.

[35] The red rock hares are considered abundant throughout their ranges, but are threatened by habitat loss due to expanding commercial plantations.

Predators of the red rock hares include carnivores and birds of prey, such as leopards, Verreaux's eagles, and Cape eagle-owls.

Estimates place the adult population of each species over 10,000,[32] and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) considers all four species to be of least concern,[25][26] but notes that the populations of both the Natal red rock hare and Jameson's red rock hare are decreasing.