In Absolution, the rabbit experiment is linked to Central. In an attempt to spy on the S&SB, and overload the border anomaly with the intentions of short circuiting Area X, the white rabbits are used as test subjects. Throughout the Southern Reach series, we read a lot about the rabbits, their longlasting impacts on the island, and in the Southern Reach. The rabbits had been injected with a serum, Serum Bliss, that would make them turn into gold. These rabbits are affixed with cameras, and forced to enter the doorway to Active Area X. During the experiment, horrors occur, and the rabbits undergo many mutations.
This is my take on how the rabbits would continue to adapt in Area X. I think that the ones that survived would adapt to this new landscape. Or perhaps what the Mudder saw.
