Tiniest Elephant
Thursday, May 8, 2025
Tiniest Elephant
Today’s special animal friend is the rock hyrax, Procavia capensis. One of five species of hyraces in three genera in the family Procaviidae, the rock hyrax is found in Africa, Arabia, and the Levant. Separate African populations live in southern Africa and in a wide band across the continent just south of the Sahara, but they are not found in the middle. Hyraces are small, fuzzy animals that look a lot like marmots or guinea pigs. However, they are neither rodents nor mustelids: they share a “recent” common ancestor with elephants and manatees in the clade Paenungulata.
The fangs you can see in the upper jaw as this guy sings are evolutionarily similar to elephants’ tusks. As their name indicates, they live among rocks at elevations up to 13,800 feet. Like the echidna and the pink fairy armadillo, they have incomplete thermoregulation. Their body temperature fluctuates in a daily cycle independently of the climate. Most typically, they are active at dawn and dusk, but it varies widely. They hide in the rock crevices to keep cool in hot weather, while in winter, they huddle among the rocks in groups of up to 50 to keep warm.
They eat leaves and grass, which they tear with their molars rather than cutting with incisors. They have a multi-chambered stomach with progressively breaks down tough plant material, but they do not chew the cud like ruminants. They live in colonies of 10 to 80; the group uses a single location to urinate, and over generations, large concentrations of urine can crystallize in these middens. Pack rats do this, too. “Hyraceum” is used in medicines and perfumes, as well as forming a record of populations and environmental conditions over long periods.
Hyraces have excellent eyesight and keep a sharp lookout for predators. They can run up steep rock faces using rubbery pads on the soles of their feet. Away from a den, a group will stand back-to-back and use their fang-tusks to defend against predators such as leopards, hyenas, jackals, servals, pythons, and the Verreaux’s eagle and black eagle.
Male rock hyraces keep a harem of five to seven females. Gestation is seven to eight months, and two to four pups are usually born. They have a full coat of thick fur at birth, and they are able to begin eating solid food within three days of birth. The group of moms stays together to feed and guard the young. Mother/baby bonds are lifelong, with groups of siblings and cousins forming the largest colonies in habitats where food is abundant.
Rock hyraces are one to two feet long and weigh up to 13 lbs. Their average lifespan is 9-12 years. They are a species of Least Concern to IUCN.
Back from a day with my granddaughter, so her parents could pack for the trip. She's heavy!
Good morning, everyone. I slept late. Later, I'm going to the podiatrist. I stopped by the office on Tuesday while D was at her art class, so all the admin stuff is done.