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Hyraxes (), also called dassies, are small, stout, thickset, herbivorous in the family Procaviidae within the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails.
9788496553774, Lynx Edicions. ISBN 9788496553774 Modern hyraxes are typically between in length and weigh between . They are superficially similar to or over-large but are much more closely related to and . Hyraxes have a life span of 9 to 14 years. Both types of "rock" hyrax (rock hyrax and H. brucei) live on rock outcrops, including cliffs in Ethiopia and isolated granite outcrops called Inselberg in southern Africa.
Almost all hyraxes are limited to Africa; the exception is the rock hyrax ( P. capensis) which is also found in adjacent parts of the Middle East.
Hyraxes were a much more diverse group in the past encompassing species considerably larger than modern hyraxes. The largest known extinct hyrax, Titanohyrax, has been estimated to weigh , comparable to a rhinoceros.
for which they compensate by behavioural thermoregulation, such as huddling together and basking in the sun.
Unlike most other browsing and grazing animals, they do not use the 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 rodents. The four lower incisors are deeply grooved "comb teeth". A diastema occurs between the incisors and the cheek teeth. The permanent dentition for hyraxes is although sometimes stated as because the deciduous teeth canine teeth are occasionally retained into early adulthood.
Although not , hyraxes have complex, multichambered that allow Symbiosis bacteria to break down tough plant materials, but their overall ability to digest fibre is lower than that of the ungulates.
The hyrax does not construct dens, but rather seeks shelter in existing holes of varying size and configuration.
Hyraxes inhabit rocky terrain across sub-Saharan Africa 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.
Female hyraxes give birth to up to four young after a gestation period of seven to eight months, depending on the species. The young are weaning 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 its 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.
Through the middle to late Eocene, many different species existed. The smallest of these were the size of a mouse but others were much larger than any extant relatives. Titanohyrax could reach or even as much as over . Megalohyrax from the upper Eocene-lower Oligocene was as huge as a tapir.
During the Miocene, however, competition from the newly developed , 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 (about two million years ago) with representatives throughout most of Africa, Europe, and Asia.
The descendants of the giant "hyracoids" (common ancestors to the hyraxes, elephants, and sirenians) evolved in different ways. Some became smaller, and evolved to become the modern hyrax family. Others appear to have taken to the water (perhaps like the modern capybara), 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 , 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 .
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 Extinction orders Embrithopoda and Desmostylia.
The extinct meridiungulata family Archaeohyracidae, consisting of seven genus of Notoungulata mammals known from the Paleocene through the Oligocene of South America,
The following cladogram shows the relationship between the extant genera:
Similarities with Proboscidea and Sirenia
Hyraxes share several unusual characteristics with mammalian orders Proboscidea (elephants and their extinct relatives) and Sirenia ( and ), which have resulted in their all being placed in the taxon Paenungulata. Male hyraxes lack a scrotum and their testicles remain tucked up in their abdominal cavity next to the kidneys,
Evolution
All modern hyraxes are members of the family Procaviidae (the only living family within Hyracoidea) and are found only in Africa and the Middle East. In the past, however, hyraxes were more diverse and widespread. At one site in Egypt, the order first appears in the fossil record in the form of Dimaitherium, 37 million years ago, but much older fossils exist elsewhere. For many millions of years, hyraxes, proboscideans, and other afrotherian were the primary terrestrial herbivores in Africa, just as odd-toed ungulates were in North America.
(1997). 9780231110136, Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231110136
is a group unrelated to the true hyraxes.
List of genera
Hyracoidea
Extant species
In the 2000s, taxonomists reduced the number of recognized species of hyraxes. In 1995, they recognized 11 species or more. However, 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, 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
Biblical references
References are made to hyraxes in the Hebrew Bible. In Leviticus they are described as lacking a split hoof and therefore not being kosher. 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.
(2025). 9781414319452, Tyndale House Publishers. ISBN 9781414319452
"Spain"
One of the proposed etymologies for "Spain" is that it may be a derivation of the Phoenician I-Shpania, meaning "island of hyraxes", "land of hyraxes", but the Phoenecian-speaking Carthage are believed to have used this name to refer to rabbits, animals with which they were unfamiliar.
In popular culture
In 2024, videos of yellow-spotted rock hyraxes ( H. brucei) gained millions of views, particularly because of their unique vocalizations and calls.
Footnotes
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