The rock hyrax or rock badger is one of the four living species of the order Hyracoidea, and the only living species in the genus "Procavia". Like all hyraxes, it is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal, superficially resembling a guinea pig with short ears and tail.
Similar species: Hyraxes
By Claire Hamilton
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Uploaded Oct 22, 2012. Captured Dec 30, 2005 09:23 in Serengeti, Tanzania.
comments (11)
Although I must admit that at about 6 years in, I wondered if you still cared to given an answer. Was it something I said? A stupid question? A lazy question? What does the silence mean?
All cleared, we can now move on...to address the other 46 questions you never answered.
(kidding!) Posted 5 years ago
Posted 5 years ago
The rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) is quite an intriguing creature that is full of surprises. Hyraxes are found in Africa and the Middle East, where they hang out on rock formations. Read on to see what makes these animals as fascinating as they are cute:
1. Rock hyraxes have tusks. Their two large incisor teeth grow out to be tiny tusks with males having larger and sharper tusks than females.
2. They have a lot in common with elephants. Seriously! They have several, unusual shared characteristics, such as the tusks mentioned above. But, also, hyraxes have flattened hoof-like nails on the tips of their toes, rather than the curved claws that many other mammals have. Another similar characteristic is that, like elephants, male hyraxes lack a scrotum and their testicles are nestled inside their abdominal cavity.
3. Speaking of testicles, hyrax colonies are dominated by a single male. During breeding season, his testicles can grow 20 times larger than they would normally be!
4. Hyraxes do almost nothing. Approximately 95% of their time is spent resting. They like to sun bathe, lie on top of each other, and basically just hang out together.
5. Rock hyraxes have three-chambered stomachs that are filled with symbiotic bacteria to help digest the plants they eat. Babies are not born with the bacteria, so they acquire it by eating the poop of adult hyraxes.
6. They have sweaty feet equipped with black, rubbery pads. These pads act like suction cups, which help the hyraxes grip rocky surfaces. This feature makes them excellent rock climbers—in fact, they can even “chimney” climb up and down tight spaces!
7. They have a stinky scent gland on their backs. This gland is covered in long hairs and is primarily used to mark territory and communicate. But, sometimes, they just like to rub each other’s glands.
8. They feed gregariously, in a circle formation, with their heads pointing outwards to keep an eye out for predators.
9. They have fantastic eyesight and can spot a predator that is over 900 meters (1,000 yards) away!
10. Hyraxes grunt, wail, squeal, snort, chuck, trill, whistle, yip, tweet, and shriek. They actually have very complex songs that include at least 21 different vocalizations. Male songs can last several minutes and kind of sound like a bird song. And, researchers have discovered that hyrax vocalizations are not random; the order of syllables is important and hyraxes from different regions use different local dialects!
{Spotted in Tanzania by JungleDragon moderator, Claire Hamilton} #JungleDragon #RockHyrax #Procaviacapensis
https://www.facebook.com/jungledragonwildlife/ Posted 5 years ago