NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Cape Hyrax

The Cape Hyrax, or Rock Hyrax, (Procavia capensis) is a species in the order Hyracoidea. Like all hyraxes, it superficially resembles a guinea pig with short ears and tail. Known as a Dassie in South Africa.The Swahili names for them are "Pelele" or "Wibari". This species has many subspecies, many of which are known as Cape Hyrax or Rock Hyrax, although the latter usually refers to African varieties. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 251 KB) Description: Dassie (Cape Hyrax) photgraphed on Table Mountain, Cape Town. ... The conservation status of a species is an indicator of the likelihood of that species continuing to survive either in the present day or the future. ... Image File history File links Status_iucn3. ... Least Concern (LC) is an IUCN category assigned to extant species or lower taxa which have been evaluated but do not qualify for any other category. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is a method by which biologists group and categorize species of organisms. ... Animalia redirects here. ... Typical Classes See below Chordates (phylum Chordata) are a group of animals that includes the vertebrates, together with several closely related invertebrates. ... Subclasses Subclass Allotheria* Order Docodonta (extinct) Order Multituberculata (extinct) Order Palaeoryctoides (extinct) Order Triconodonta (extinct) Order Volaticotheria (extinct) Subclass Prototheria Order Monotremata Subclass Theria Infraclass Trituberculata (extinct) Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals characterized by the production of milk in females for the nourishment of... Genera Procavia Heterohyrax Dendrohyrax A hyrax is any of about 11 species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ... Genera Procavia Heterohyrax Dendrohyrax A hyrax is any of about 11 species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ... Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr (June 16, 1749) - (February 27, 1821) was a German physician and naturalist. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is the formal method of naming species. ... Peter Simon Pallas (September 22, 1741 - September 8, 1811) was a German-born Russian zoologist. ... In scientific classification used in biology, the order (Latin: ordo, plural ordines) is a rank between class and family (termed a taxon at that rank). ... Genera Procavia Heterohyrax Dendrohyrax A hyrax is any of about 11 species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ... Genera Procavia Heterohyrax Dendrohyrax A hyrax (from Greek shrewmouse; South African English: klipdassie) is any of four species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ... Binomial name Cavia porcellus (Linnaeus, 1758) Guinea pigs (also called cavies) are rodents belonging to the family Caviidae and the genus Cavia, originally indigenous to the Andes. ... Swahili (also called Kiswahili; see Kiswahili for a discussion of the nomenclature) is an agglutinative Bantu language widely spoken in East Africa. ...

Occurrence

Cape Hyraxes are found south of Syria, Lebanon, through Israel and North Africa to much of sub-Saharan Africa, living in savanna or grassland areas. They live in cavities in rock outcroppings and can often be found in the burrows of other animals including those of aardvarks and meerkats. Northern Africa (UN subregion) geographic, including above North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, generally divided politically from Sub-Saharan Africa. ... A geographical map of Africa, showing the ecological break that defines the sub-Saharan area A political map showing national divisions in relation to the ecological break (Sub-Saharan Africa in green) Sub-Saharan Africa is the term used to describe those countries of the African continent that are not... Savanna at Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Binomial name Orycteropus afer (Pallas, 1766) Aardvark range map The Aardvark (Orycteropus afer; sometimes called antbear)[1] is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa. ... Binomial name Suricata suricatta (Schreber, 1776) Meerkat range The meerkat or suricate Suricata suricatta is a small mammal and a member of the mongoose family. ...

In South Africa these animals are commonly called "dassies" or "rock rabbits" since they are often seen sunning themselves on rocks and, like the rabbits that they resemble, are small herbivores. The word 'dassie,' in Dutch as well as Afrikaans, means "badger" — which suggests early Afrikaner colonists (Cape Town or 'Kaapstad' was founded 1652) mistook the Cape Hyrax for a kind of badger.

The Syrian population has been described as a subspecies, Procavia capensis syriacus, although some regard it as a distinct species (once known as Hyrax syricaus).^[2] They are probably the "rock badger" or "coney" mentioned as an unclean meat in Leviticus 11:5. Lumping and splitting refers to a well known problem in any discipline which has to place individual examples into rigorously defined categories. ... Leviticus is the third book of the Hebrew Bible, also the third book in the Torah (five books of Moses). ...

Physical description and lifestyle

The skull of the Cape Hyrax has a pair of long tusk-like incisors and molars that resemble rhinoceros' molars. The forefeet are plantigrade, and the hindfeet semi-digitigrade. The soles of the feet have large, soft pads that are kept moist with sweat-like secretions. Male hyraxes are slightly larger than females. Pacific Walrus at Cape Peirce A tusk is an extremely long tooth of certain mammals that protrudes when the mouth is closed. ... Incisors are the first kind of tooth in heterodont mammals. ... A molar is the fourth kind of tooth in mammals. ... Black Rhino from Howletts Wild Animal Park For other uses, see Rhinoceros (disambiguation). ... Human skeleton, showing plantigrade habit In mammals, plantigrade locomotion means walking with the podials and metatarsals flat on the ground. ... A digitigrade is an animal that stands or walks on its digits, or toes. ...

Cape Hyrax give birth to two or three young after a 6-7 month gestation period. The young are well-developed at birth with fully-opened eyes and complete pelage. Young can ingest solid food after two weeks and are weaned at ten weeks. Young are sexually mature after 16 months, reach adult size at three years, and typically live about ten years. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2271x1662, 909 KB) Dassie (Cape Hyrax) photgraphed on Table mountain, Cape Town in February 2005 by Anthony Steele. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2271x1662, 909 KB) Dassie (Cape Hyrax) photgraphed on Table mountain, Cape Town in February 2005 by Anthony Steele. ... Table Mountain is a mountain in the Western Cape, South Africa, overlooking the greater Cape Town area. ... City motto: Spes Bona (Latin: Good Hope) Location of the City of Cape Town in Western Cape Province Province Western Cape Mayor Helen Zille Area - % water 2,499 kmÂ² N/A Population - Total (2004) - Density Not ranked 2,893,251 1,158/kmÂ² Established 1652 Time zone SAST (UTC+2... Gestation is the carrying of an embryo or fetus inside a female viviparous animal. ... In mammals, pelage is the hair, fur, or wool that covers the animal. ...

Hyraxes live in herds of up to 80 individuals. These herds are subdivided into smaller flocks consisting of a few families and headed by an adult male. Hyraxes spend most of their time resting in large huddles or basking alone. These behaviors probably serve to help regulate body temperature as hyraxes' body temperature fluctuates with ambient temperature (i.e. they are not strictly homeothermic). Look up herd in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Look up Ambient, Ambience in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A warm-blooded (homeothermic) animal is one that can keep its core body temperature at a nearly constant level regardless of the temperature of the surrounding environment (that is, to maintain thermal homeostasis) . This can involve not only the ability to generate heat, but also the ability to cool down...

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2355x1662, 829 KB) Dassie (Cape Hyrax) photgraphed on Table mountain, Cape Town in February 2005 by Anthony Steele. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2355x1662, 829 KB) Dassie (Cape Hyrax) photgraphed on Table mountain, Cape Town in February 2005 by Anthony Steele. ...

Cape Hyraxes and medical treatment

Cape Hyraxes produce large quantities of hyraceum (sticky mass of dung and urine) that has been employed by people in the treatment of several medical disorders, including epilepsy and convulsions. The term disease refers to an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs function. ... This article is about the medical condition. ...

[edit] Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1254x816, 104 KB) Summary A Cape Hyrax or Dassie, this one named Pretorius, photo by myself in Hermanus, South Africa, October 2005. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1254x816, 104 KB) Summary A Cape Hyrax or Dassie, this one named Pretorius, photo by myself in Hermanus, South Africa, October 2005. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (2560 Ã— 1920 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 Ã— 600 pixelsFull resolution (2560 Ã— 1920 pixel, file size: 1. ...

Relationship to Elephants

Hyraxes are widely stated to be the closest living relatives of elephants. This is not so. Though both are within the cohort of mammals known as Afrotheria, the Hyrax is not the closest living relative of the elephant. Elephants (Proboscidea) and hyraxes (Hyracoidae) are both more closely related to manatees and dugongs (Sirenia) than they are to one another. (See: Kemp, T.S., 2005 The Origin and Evolution of Mammals, Oxford University Press, at 252-253; citing Asher et al., 2003, 'Relationships of endemic African mammals and their fossil relatives based on morphological and molecular evidence', Journal of Mammalian Evolution 10: 131 - 194"). Afrotheria are a clade of mammals with the rank of cohort, that has been proposed based on DNA analysis. ... Groups Jozaria (extinct) Anthracobunidae (extinct) Moeritheriidae (extinct) Euproboscidea Numidotheriidae (extinct) Barytheriidae (extinct) Deinotheriidae (extinct) Elephantiformes Phiomiidae (extinct) Palaeomastodontidae (extinct) Hemimastodontidae (extinct) Euelephantoidea Choerolophodontidae (extinct) Amebelodontidae (extinct) Gnathabelodontidae (extinct) Gomphotheriidae (extinct) Elephantidae Mammutidae (extinct) Proboscidea is an order containing only one family of living animals, Elephantidae, the elephants, with three species... Genera Procavia Heterohyrax Dendrohyrax A hyrax (from Greek shrewmouse; South African English: klipdassie) is any of four species of fairly small, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the order Hyracoidea. ... Families Dugongidae Trichechidae Hydrochichus (extinct) For information about the Gothic metal band, see Sirenia (band) The Sirenia are fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries and coastal marine waters. ...

External links

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...

References

Categories: Least Concern species | Hyraxes | Fauna of Algeria | Fauna of Angola | Fauna of Burkina Faso | Fauna of the Democratic Republic of the Congo | Fauna of East Africa | Fauna of Egypt | Fauna of Ethiopia | Fauna of the Middle East | Fauna of Namibia | Fauna of the Sahara | Fauna of South Africa | Fauna of Sudan | Fauna of West Africa | Mammals of Africa The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (also known as the IUCN Red List and Red Data List), created in 1963, is the worlds most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species and can be found here. ... The World Conservation Union or International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) is an international organization dedicated to natural resource conservation. ...

Contents

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