HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, thickset, herbivorous
mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...
s in the
order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of ...
Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails. Typically, they measure between long and weigh between . They are superficially similar to pikas and marmots, but are more closely related to
elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantida ...
s and sea cows. Hyraxes have a life span from 9 to 14 years. Five extant species are recognised: the
rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the ...
(''Procavia capensis'') and the
yellow-spotted rock hyrax The yellow-spotted rock hyrax or bush hyrax (''Heterohyrax brucei'') is a species of mammal in the family Procaviidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, southern Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, ...
(''Heterohyrax brucei''), which both live on rock outcrops, including cliffs in Ethiopia and isolated granite outcrops called
koppies Koppies is a small town (railway station) situated near the Renoster River in the Free State province of South Africa. Geography The town is situated 63 km north-east of Kroonstad, 48 km west of Heilbron and 42 km south-south-eas ...
in southern Africa; the
western tree hyrax The western tree hyrax (''Dendrohyrax dorsalis''), also called the western tree dassie or Beecroft's tree hyrax, is a species of tree hyrax within the family Procaviidae. It can be distinguished from other hyraxes by short coarse fur, presence o ...
(''Dendrohyrax dorsalis''), southern tree hyrax (''D. arboreus''), and
eastern tree hyrax The eastern tree hyrax (''Dendrohyrax validus'') is a species of mammal within the family Procaviidae. The eastern tree hyrax is the most localized of the tree hyrax species, distributed patchily in a narrow band of lowland and montane forests i ...
(''D. validus''). Their distribution is limited to
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, except for ''P. capensis'', which is also found in the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
.


Characteristics

Hyraxes retain or have redeveloped a number of primitive mammalian characteristics; in particular, they have poorly developed internal temperature regulation, for which they compensate by behavioural
thermoregulation Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when the surrounding temperature is very different. A thermoconforming organism, by contrast, simply adopts the surrounding temperatur ...
, such as huddling together and basking in the sun. Unlike most other browsing and grazing animals, they do not use the incisors at the front of the jaw for slicing off leaves and grass; rather, they use the molar teeth at the side of the jaw. The two upper incisors are large and tusk-like, and grow continuously through life, similar to those of
rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are rodents. They are n ...
s. The four lower incisors are deeply grooved "comb teeth". A
diastema A diastema (plural diastemata, from Greek διάστημα, space) is a space or gap between two teeth. Many species of mammals have diastemata as a normal feature, most commonly between the incisors and molars. More colloquially, the condition ...
occurs between the incisors and the cheek teeth. The dental formula for hyraxes is . Although not ruminants, hyraxes have complex, multichambered stomachs that allow symbiotic bacteria to break down tough plant materials, but their overall ability to digest fibre is lower than that of the ungulates. Their mandibular motions are similar to chewing
cud Cud is a portion of food that returns from a ruminant's stomach to the mouth to be chewed for the second time. More precisely, it is a bolus of semi-degraded food regurgitated from the reticulorumen of a ruminant. Cud is produced during the p ...
, but the hyrax is physically incapable of regurgitation as in the even-toed ungulates and the
merycism Rumination syndrome, or merycism, is a chronic motility disorder characterized by effortless regurgitation of most meals following consumption, due to the involuntary contraction of the muscles around the abdomen. There is no retching, nausea, he ...
of some of the macropods. This behaviour is referred to in a passage in the Bible which describes hyraxes as "chewing the cud". This chewing behaviour may be a form of agonistic behaviour when the animal feels threatened. The hyrax does not construct dens, as most rodents and rodent-like mammals do, but over the course of its lifetime rather seeks shelter in existing holes of great variety in size and configuration. Hyraxes inhabit rocky terrain across
sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...
and the Middle East. Their feet have rubbery pads with numerous sweat glands, which may help the animal maintain its grip when quickly moving up steep, rocky surfaces. Hyraxes have stumpy toes with hoof-like nails; four toes are on each front foot and three are on each back foot. They also have efficient
kidney The kidneys are two reddish-brown bean-shaped organs found in vertebrates. They are located on the left and right in the retroperitoneal space, and in adult humans are about in length. They receive blood from the paired renal arteries; blo ...
s, retaining water so that they can better survive in arid environments. Female hyraxes give birth to up to four young after a gestation period of 7–8 months, depending on the species. The young are weaned at 1–5 months of age, and reach sexual maturity at 16–17 months. Hyraxes live in small family groups, with a single male that aggressively defends the territory from rivals. Where living space is abundant, the male may have sole access to multiple groups of females, each with their own range. The remaining males live solitary lives, often on the periphery of areas controlled by larger males, and mate only with younger females. Hyraxes have highly charged myoglobin, which has been inferred to reflect an aquatic ancestry.


Similarities with Proboscidea and Sirenia

Hyraxes share several unusual characteristics with mammalian orders Proboscidea (elephants and their extinct relatives) and Sirenia ( manatees and dugongs), which have resulted in their all being placed in the taxon
Paenungulata Paenungulata (from Latin ''paene'' "almost" + ''ungulātus'' "having hoofs") is a clade of "sub- ungulates", which groups three extant mammal orders: Proboscidea (including elephants), Sirenia (sea cows, including dugongs and manatees), and H ...
. Male hyraxes lack a
scrotum The scrotum or scrotal sac is an anatomical male reproductive structure located at the base of the penis that consists of a suspended dual-chambered sac of skin and smooth muscle. It is present in most terrestrial male mammals. The scrotum co ...
and their
testicles A testicle or testis (plural testes) is the male reproductive gland or gonad in all bilaterians, including humans. It is homologous to the female ovary. The functions of the testes are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testosteron ...
remain tucked up in their abdominal cavity next to the kidneys, as do those of elephants, manatees, and dugongs. Female hyraxes have a pair of teats near their armpits ( axilla), as well as four teats in their groin (inguinal area); elephants have a pair of teats near their axillae, and dugongs and manatees have a pair of teats, one located close to each of the front flippers. The tusks of hyraxes develop from the incisor teeth as do the tusks of elephants; most mammalian tusks develop from the canines. Hyraxes, like elephants, have flattened nails on the tips of their digits, rather than the curved, elongated claws usually seen on mammals.


Evolution

All modern hyraxes are members of the
family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
Procaviidae (the only living family within Hyracoidea) and are found only in
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and the
Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
. In the past, however, hyraxes were more diverse and widespread. The order first appears in the fossil record at a site in the Middle East in the form of '' Dimaitherium'', 37 million years ago. For many millions of years, hyraxes, proboscideans, and other afrotherian
mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur ...
s were the primary terrestrial herbivores in Africa, just as odd-toed ungulates were in North America. Through the middle to late
Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', ...
, many different species existed. The smallest of these were the size of a mouse but others were much larger than any extant relatives. ''
Titanohyrax ''Titanohyrax'' is an extinct genus of large to very large hyrax from the Eocene and Oligocene. Specimens have been discovered in modern-day Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Some species, like ''T. ultimus'', are estimated to be as large ...
'' could reach or even as much as over . ''
Megalohyrax ''Megalohyrax'' is an extinct hyrax-grouped genus of herbivorous mammal that lived during the Miocene, Oligocene, and Eocene, about 55-11 million years ago. Its fossils have been found in Africa and in Asia Minor. Description This animal was v ...
'' from the upper Eocene-lower
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...
was as huge as tapir. During the
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...
, however, competition from the newly developed
bovid The Bovidae comprise the biological family of cloven-hoofed, ruminant mammals that includes cattle, bison, buffalo, antelopes, and caprines. A member of this family is called a bovid. With 143 extant species and 300 known extinct species, t ...
s, which were very efficient grazers and browsers, displaced the hyraxes into marginal niches. Nevertheless, the order remained widespread and diverse as late as the end of the
Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58capybara), ultimately giving rise to the elephant family and perhaps also the sirenians. DNA evidence supports this hypothesis, and the small modern hyraxes share numerous features with elephants, such as toenails, excellent hearing, sensitive pads on their feet, small tusks, good memory, higher brain functions compared with other similar mammals, and the shape of some of their
bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...
s. Hyraxes are sometimes described as being the closest living relative of the elephant, although whether this is so is disputed. Recent morphological- and molecular-based classifications reveal the sirenians to be the closest living relatives of elephants. While hyraxes are closely related, they form a taxonomic outgroup to the assemblage of elephants, sirenians, and the
extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...
orders Embrithopoda and Desmostylia. The extinct meridiungulate family
Archaeohyracidae Archaeohyracidae is an extinct family of notoungulate mammals known from the Paleocene through the Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the pr ...
, consisting of seven genera of notoungulate mammals known from the
Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name is a combination of the Ancient Greek ''pala ...
through the
Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but t ...
of
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
, is a group unrelated to the true hyraxes.


List of genera

Hyracoidea * '' Dimaitherium'' * '' Helioseus''? * '' Microhyrax'' * '' Seggeurius'' * Geniohyidae ** '' Brachyhyrax'' ** '' Bunohyrax'' ** '' Geniohyus'' ** '' Namahyrax'' ** '' Pachyhyrax'' * "Saghatheriidae" ** ''
Megalohyrax ''Megalohyrax'' is an extinct hyrax-grouped genus of herbivorous mammal that lived during the Miocene, Oligocene, and Eocene, about 55-11 million years ago. Its fossils have been found in Africa and in Asia Minor. Description This animal was v ...
'' ** '' Regubahyrax'' ** '' Rukwalorax'' ** '' Saghatherium'' ** '' Selenohyrax'' ** '' Thyrohyrax'' * Titanohyracidae ** '' Afrohyrax'' ** '' Antilohyrax'' ** '' Rupestrohyrax'' ** ''
Titanohyrax ''Titanohyrax'' is an extinct genus of large to very large hyrax from the Eocene and Oligocene. Specimens have been discovered in modern-day Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Some species, like ''T. ultimus'', are estimated to be as large ...
'' * Pliohyracidae ** '' Hengduanshanhyrax'' ** '' Kvabebihyrax'' ** '' Meroehyrax'' ** '' Parapliohyrax'' ** ''
Pliohyrax ''Pliohyrax'', is a genus of hyracoids (the cavy-like group of animals most closely related to elephants and manatees). It grew to sizes greatly exceeding those of any living hyrax, though it was by no means the largest member of this family. Fo ...
'' ** '' Postschizotherium'' ** '' Prohyrax'' * Procaviidae ** ''
Dendrohyrax The tree hyrax or tree dassie is a small nocturnal mammal native to Africa. Distantly related to elephants and sea cows, it comprises the four species in the genus ''Dendrohyrax'', one of only three genera in the family Procaviidae, which is the ...
'' ** '' Gigantohyrax'' ** '' Heterohyrax'' ** '' Procavia''


Extant species

In the 2000s, taxonomists reduced the number of recognized species of hyraxes. In 1995, they recognized 11 species or more, but as of 2013, only four were recognized, with the others all considered as subspecies of one of the recognized four. Over 50 subspecies and species are described, many of which are considered highly endangered. The most recently identified species is ''
Dendrohyrax interfluvialis The Benin tree hyrax (''Dendrohyrax interfluvialis'') is a species of tree hyrax within the family Procaviidae. It can be distinguished from neighboring ''Dendrohyrax dorsalis The western tree hyrax (''Dendrohyrax dorsalis''), also called the ...
'', which is a tree hyrax living between the Volta and Niger rivers but makes a unique barking call that is distinct from the shrieking vocalizations of hyraxes inhabiting other regions of the African forest zone.


Human interactions


Local and indigenous names

*
Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
: () * Gikuyu: Gitori *
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
: () * Tigrinya: ()


Biblical references

References are made to hyraxes in the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' kosher. It also describes the hyrax as chewing its cud; this is inaccurate as the hyrax does not regurgitate its food to chew it again. The Hebrew phrase in question (מַעֲלֵה גֵרָה) means "bringing up cud". Some of the modern translations refer to them as rock hyraxes. The words "rabbit", "hare", "coney", or "daman" appear as terms for the hyrax in some English translations of the Bible. Early English translators had no knowledge of the hyrax, so no name for them, though "badger" or "rock-badger" has also been used more recently in new translations, especially in "common language" translations such as the Common English Bible (2011).


"Spain"

One of the proposed etymologies for "
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
" is that it may be a derivation of the Phoenician ''I-Shpania'', meaning "island of hyraxes", "land of hyraxes", but the Phoenecian-speaking
Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...
are believed to have used this name to refer to rabbits, animals with which they were unfamiliar. Roman coins struck in the region from the reign of
Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...
show a female figure with a rabbit at her feet, and
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called " Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could s ...
called it the "land of the rabbits". The Phoeneician ''shpania'' is cognate to the modern Hebrew ''shafan''.


See also

* Altungulata


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hyrax Fauna of Sub-Saharan Africa Articles containing video clips Extant Ypresian first appearances Taxa named by Thomas Henry Huxley