Richard E. Shope investigated the horns and discovered the virus in 1933, an important breakthrough in the study of oncoviruses.

[3] In the 1930s, hunters in northwestern Iowa reported that the rabbits they shot had several "horn" protrusions on many parts of their bodies including their faces and necks.

[4] The virus is also a possible source of myths about the jackalope, a rabbit with the horns of an antelope, and related cryptids such as the wolpertinger.

Stories and illustrations of horned rabbits appear in scientific treatises dating back many years, such as the Tableau encyclopédique et méthodique, from 1655.

[5] The reports led cancer researcher Richard E. Shope to investigate, culminating in the virus officially being discovered and named in 1933.

The most visible example of this role is the HPV vaccine, which was developed based on and incorporating research done using the virus as a model.

E1 is similar to COOH-terminal domain of the Simian virus 40, plays a role in viral DNA replication maintaining plasmids within a cell.

The E6 protein is somewhat homologous[clarification needed] with a family of ATP syntheses that are found in mitochondria of cattle.

The homology is significant enough to imply an evolutionary relationship between E6 and the beta chain of the ATP synthase family; however, they do not have the same function or enzyme activity.

The infected, differentiating cells travel towards the epithelial surface during the viral cycle's late stage.

[9] Transmission of the Papillomavirus requires release from the infected skin cell at the epithelial surface, as they are non-lytic.

He worked with these species because it was discovered that SPV had a restricted geographic range and was confined to the high plains of the western United States.

[6] Shope's research also investigated how vitamin A deficiencies or excess might affect host susceptibility to SPV.

[citation needed] Fluorescent antibody study identified the locations of viral antigens in wild rabbit papillomas.

In domesticated rabbits, the viral antigens were present in much smaller quantity in only superficial, keratinized layers.

The investigation proposed that the virus is only present in proliferating cell nuclei during early development, containing a deficient number of proteins and mostly nucleic acid.

The warts are made up of several tight, branching, threadlike epidermis processes connected by narrow tissue cores.