hyrax

(also called ‘rock rabbit’, ‘coney’ and ‘dassie’) {plural – hyraxes

}

a hyrax (rock rabbit)

a kind of animal – looks like (resembles) a guinea pig or rabbit, but related to the elephant – four-legged, hoof-like nails on feet, grass-eating – small plump body with thick, soft, long brown or yellowish or greyish-brown or grey fur (coat/hair), broad fore-head with round ears, short round muzzle (mouth and nose part), with whiskers (stiff long hairs around the mouth part), sharp front teeth and small tusks, short legs with stumpy toes with hook-like nails (hooves) and soft pad on the bottom of each foot; very small tail; size: 1 foot tall at the shoulder, 1½-2 feet long, and weighs 2-5 Kg.; feeds on (eats) grass, leaves, fruit, insects, lizards and birds’ eggs; lives for 8-12 years; two broad types: tree hyrax and rock hyrax with about 50 species and sub-species found in E. Africa and the middle East Asia [A group of hyraxes is called a ‘herd’, ‘flock’ or ‘colony’; and the voice (call) is called ‘twitter’, ‘growl’, ‘whistle’ and ‘shriek’.]

Special Features:

Though a hyrax looks like (resembles) a rodent, it is not a rodent; it is related to the elephant.  And some common characteristics hyrax and elephant share are: like that of an elephant, the testes of male hyrax are located inside the abdomen, not in the scrotum (a bag-like skin folds hanging loose); the mammary glands (the milk giving glands) of female are placed between the front legs, not between the back legs; small four inter-locking ‘tusks’ (elephants have only two)! Tree hyraxes are nocturnal (= active at night), and rock hyraxes are diurnal (= active during day). Hyraxes have good toilet system: they use some specific areas a little away from their dens to defecate (to shit), and all of the herd or flock members use them regularly! The sticky substance of dung and urine of hyrax, called ‘hyracem’, is used by people as medicine for some medical disorders, such as epilepsy, convulsions, etc.!!

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