Hyrax

Bush Hyrax ( Heterohyrax brucei )

• Tree Hyrax ( Dendrohyrax )
• Bush Hyrax ( Heterohyrax )
• Rock Hyrax ( Procavia )

The hyrax ( Hyracoidea ) form a large order good rabbit, marmot -like mammals ( Mammalia). They are closest to the elephants ( Proboscidea ) and manatees ( Sirenia) related with which they are combined sometimes as Paenungulata (formerly Uranotheria ). Today they are classified in the very heterogeneous group of Afrotheria.

Features

Today's hyraxes are relatively small mammals. Their body length is between 30 and 60 cm. The tail is tiny and often barely visible, in the case of maximum 3 cm long. Hyraxes reach a weight of about 3.5 kg. They are very sturdy, stocky animals, all of which are characterized by a muscular, massive, short neck and a long, curved upwards body. Their color varies according to genus and species, ranging from light to dark brown. On the back of a gland of hair a different color is covered. The function of this gland is unknown; According to current hypotheses, the secretion of mutual recognition is used.

The muzzle of the hyrax is short, just as the ears and legs. The front legs have four toes ending in small hooves. On the hind legs are three toes, the average ending in a long, curved claw, while wearing the other two hooves. Hyrax not run on their hooves, but on the bare bottom, which is kept constantly moist by secretions. You can move in the middle of the sole, so that a vacuum is created by muscle power. This they can adhere firmly with considerable force on rocks and other documents.

Habitat

Clip and bush hyraxes live in rocky, arid areas, the tree hyrax, however, in forests. The home is Africa, only the hyrax lives in southwest Asia. They live both in the plains and in the mountains, sometimes to heights of 4,500 meters.

Way of life

Hyraxes are very lively animals that are fast even on steep and uneven terrain on the go. All types can also climb. In response, there are strong differences between the ground-dwelling bush and hyrax on the one hand and the forest dwelling tree hyraxes other. The former are active during the day and like to come in the sun, the latter live hidden and are nocturnal. The soil-borne Hyrax live in large groups, individually Tree Hyrax or in small family groups.

All hyraxes are pure herbivores. Water for drinking is not a prerequisite, since they often can draw enough liquid from their food. Because of their small size hyraxes are hunted by many animals; Snakes, birds of prey and leopards are just a few examples.

Evolution

The hyraxes are a very old order. The first family, the Pliohyracidae is known from the early Eocene. In the following the Oligocene hyrax presented the main herbivorous mammals of Africa; they existed in all sizes from that of a mouse to that of a small rhinoceros. Although they existed until the Pliocene into it, they had been at the end of the Oligocene, a significant decline in species suffered because they were inferior to more modern groups of mammals. Before about 2 million years ago the last representatives of the Pliohyracidae in East Asia became extinct.

The Procaviidae that represent today's hyraxes, originated in the Miocene in Africa; they are fossil known from any other continent. During the Pleistocene reached its nominees, Gigantohyrax, three times the size of today's Schliefers.

Name

Since hyraxes are ubiquitous in Palestine, they are mentioned repeatedly in the Bible. The Hebrew word Shaphan Martin Luther translated with "Rabbit" and " rabbit ". The name irritated for a long time also sprachunkundige, but naturally competent Europeans, since neither hares nor rabbits are ruminants, as claimed by the locations in Leviticus and Deuteronomy to the dining commandments. Of course, hares and rabbits have no part stomach and thus bring the food not from the stomach into the mouth back to it to chew again - features that serve the scientific classification of ruminant or ruminant. For what understood the Israelites " ruminate " in the days of Moses under the modern scientific classification is not the basis for it, although the Hebrew term used here for ruminate ', literally " [ chewed ] bring up " means. Therefore, there is no legitimate reason for the reliability of the aforementioned biblical statement based on these narrowly defined to assess relatively new idea of ​​ruminants, as many critics do it.

In the past, regarded Commentators who believed in the inspiration of the Bible, the formulation of the law not as an error:

" There 's no mistaking that the hare the feed that he has at some point taken to be chewed again and again in peace. This activity has always been generally considered as rumination. Even our poet Cowper, a keen observer of natural phenomena, situated in a report of his observations he has made in three domesticated rabbits from him, firmly, that, throughout the day wiederkäuten '. "

That these animals ruminate not only apparent, recent scientific observations of hares and rabbits shown:

" The coprophagia, in which the food is held twice only once through the intestine in rabbits and hares is a general phenomenon. The night excreted feces, take the pet rabbits in the morning usually again and swallow without chewing makes about half of its total stomach contents. In the wild rabbits find the Koprophagie twice a day instead, and the same is reported from the European hare. ... It is assumed that the animals are fed in this manner with large quantities of vitamins of the B - type, which are produced by bacteria in the food in the colon. "

" This double digestion is somewhat similar to the rumination of most Paarhuferfamilien. "

It was not until the revision of the Luther Bible of 1984 replaced the term " hare " by the not entirely clear " coney ". Due to its similarity with the rabbit came partly to confusion: the " Shapan " Spain therefore probably got its name. The Phoenicians held a popular hypothesis is that there sighted rabbits for Hyrax and gave the Iberian Peninsula, the name " I- Shapan - in " ( land of the hyraxes ), which led to the Latin name "Hispania". The eponymous animals but have never lived there.

The Boer settlers in South Africa gave the hyraxes the name " conies "; therefrom made ​​the Englishman Dassie its name, which means something like " Dächschen ". Usually, however, hyraxes are known in the English speaking hyrax today, which comes from the Greek and there originally called a shrew.

The scientific name Procavia (for the rock hyrax ) consists of the word Cavia (guinea pig) with the prefix pro ( "before" ); This designation indicates that initially prevailed misconceptions about the relationships between this group of animals.

Taxonomy

The first scientists who dealt with hyraxes, they filed a case against rodents. However, it is recognized in the 19th century that the physique can be rather close to an ungulate. So you took Hyrax together with trunk animals and manatees to the group of Paenungulata. To date, most zoologists assume a relationship between these three taxa. Occasionally there were repeatedly as alternative views; so shut Prothero and Schoch 1989 still in The Evolution of perissodactyls extant from the morphology and especially fossil hyrax that this would be a subordination of the Perissodactyla.

System

All extant species are grouped together in the family of Procaviidae, sometimes referred to as " climbing Hyrax " means the delineation of fossil Schlieferfamilien. This is divided into three genera

• The tree - or forest Hyrax ( Dendrohyrax ) include three types: steppe forest tree hyrax (D. arboreus ), Actual tree hyrax (D. dorsalis) and mountain forest tree hyrax (D. validus ).
• The Busch- or steppe Hyrax ( Heterohyrax ) comprise a species ( H. brucei ). H. antineae is a synonym of this kind
• The Clip or desert hyrax ( Procavia ) are composed of only one kind Procavia capensis. A division into two types is contemplated, however due to genetic characteristics.