{{Short description|Order of small, herbivorous mammals}} {{For|the dental device|Palatal expander}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}} {{Automatic taxobox | name = Hyraxes | fossil_range = Eocene–recent {{Fossil range|55.8|0}} | image = Hyrax on the Rocks.JPG | image_upright = | image_caption = Rock hyrax (''Procavia capensis'')<br/>Erongo, Namibia | taxon = Procaviidae | authority = Thomas, 1892 | display_parents = 4 | range_map = Procaviidae Range.jpg | range_map_caption = Range map of Procaviidae }}
'''Hyraxes''' ({{ety|grc|''ὕραξ'' hýrax|shrew-mouse}}), also called '''dassies''',<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Hyracoidea |encyclopedia=Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia |volume=15 Mammals |publisher=Gale Publishing |edition=online}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Dassie, ''n''. |year=2018 |dictionary=Dictionary of South African English |publisher=Dictionary Unit for South African English |edition=web |url=https://www.dsae.co.za/entry/dassie/e01921 |access-date=25 February 2019}}</ref> are small, stout, thickset, herbivorous mammals in the family '''Procaviidae''' within the order Hyracoidea. Hyraxes are well-furred, rotund animals with short tails.<ref> {{cite book |editor-last1 = Wilson |editor-first1 = Don E. |editor-last2 = Mittermeier |editor-first2 = Russell A. |title = Handbook of the Mammals of the World |date = 2011 |volume = 2 |location = Barcelona, ES |publisher = Lynx Edicions |page = 29 |isbn = 978-84-96553-77-4}}</ref> Modern hyraxes are typically between {{cvt|30|and|70|cm|in|abbr=on|0}} in length and weigh between {{convert|2|and|5|kg|lb|0|abbr=on}}. They are superficially similar to marmots or over-large pikas but are much more closely related to elephants and sirenians. Hyraxes have a life span of 9 to 14 years. Both types of "rock" hyrax (''P. capensis'' and ''H. brucei'') live on rock outcrops, including cliffs in Ethiopia<ref name="Aerts2019">{{cite book |last = Aerts |first = Raf |year = 2019 |section = Forest and woodland vegetation in the highlands of Dogu'a Tembien |editor1-last = Nyssen |editor1-first = J. |editor2-last = Jacob |editor2-first = M. |editor3-last = Frankl |editor3-first = A. |title = Geo-trekking in Ethiopia's Tropical Mountains: The Dogu'a Tembien district |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-030-04954-6 |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030049546 |access-date=18 June 2019}}</ref> and isolated granite outcrops called koppies in southern Africa.<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael A. |last=Mares |year=2017 |title=Encyclopedia of Deserts |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-7229-3 |page=288 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3RLeDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA288 |via = Google books }}</ref>
Almost all hyraxes are limited to Africa; the exception is the rock hyrax (''P. capensis'') which is also found in adjacent parts of the Middle East.
Hyracoids were a much more diverse group in the past encompassing species considerably larger than modern hyraxes. The largest known extinct hyracoid, ''Titanohyrax ultimus'', has been estimated to weigh {{Convert|600-1300|kg|lb}}, comparable to a water buffalo.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Tabuce |first=Rodolphe |date=2016-04-18 |title=A mandible of the hyracoid mammal ''Titanohyrax andrewsi'' in the collections of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (France) with a reassessment of the species |journal=Palaeovertebrata |volume=40 |issue=1 |article-number=e4 |doi=10.18563/pv.40.1.e4 |url=http://palaeovertebrata.com/articles/view/354|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>Roth, J. 2004. "Bubalus bubalis" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed December 5, 2025 at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Bubalus_bubalis/
Last updated: 2004-42-28 / Generated: 2025-11-24 02:44</ref>
==Characteristics== Hyraxes retain or have redeveloped a number of primitive mammalian characteristics; in particular, they have poorly developed internal temperature regulation,<ref> {{cite report |last=Brown |first=Kelly Joanne |year=2003 |title=Seasonal variation in the thermal biology of the rock hyrax (''Procavia capensis'') |via=researchspace.ukzn.ac.za |series=School of Botany and Zoology |publisher=University of KwaZulu-Natal |url=https://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10413/10124/Brown_Kelly_J_2003.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref> for which they compensate by behavioural thermoregulation, such as huddling together and basking in the sun.
Unlike most other browsing and grazing animals, they do not use the incisors at the front of the jaw for slicing off leaves and grass; rather, they use the molar teeth at the side of the jaw. The two upper incisors are large and tusk-like, and grow continuously through life, similar to those of rodents. The four lower incisors are deeply grooved "comb teeth". A diastema occurs between the incisors and the cheek teeth. The permanent dental formula for hyraxes is {{DentalFormula|upper=1.0.4.3|lower=2.0.3-4.3}}<ref name=Ungar>{{cite book |last= Ungar |first= Peter S. |date= 2010 |title= Mammal Teeth |location= Baltimore |publisher= Johns Hopkins University Press |page= 148|isbn= 978-0-8018-9668-2}}</ref> although sometimes stated as {{DentalFormula|upper=1.1.4.3|lower=2.1.4.3}}<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Napier |first1=Julie E. |title=Hyrocoidea (Hyraxes) |journal=Fowler's Zoo and Wild Animal Medicine |date=2015 |volume=8 |page=532 |doi=10.1016/B978-1-4557-7397-8.00054-2 |isbn=978-1-4557-7397-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/fowlers-zoo-and-wild-animal-medicine.-volume-8-pdfdrive/page/n571/mode/2up?q=hyrax}}</ref> because the deciduous canine teeth are occasionally retained into early adulthood.<ref name=Ungar/>
thumb|right|A hyrax showing its characteristic chewing, grunting behavior, and incisor tusks Although not ruminants, hyraxes have complex, multichambered stomachs that allow symbiotic bacteria to break down tough plant materials, but their overall ability to digest fibre is lower than that of the ungulates.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=von Engelhardt |first1=W. |last2=Wolter |first2=S. |last3=Lawrenz |first3=H. |last4=Hemsley |first4=J.A. |year = 1978 |title = Production of methane in two non-ruminant herbivores |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A |volume = 60 |issue = 3 |pages = 309–311 |doi=10.1016/0300-9629(78)90254-2}}</ref> Their mandibular motions are similar to chewing cud,<ref name=Hendrichs-1966>{{cite journal |first=Hubert |last=Hendrichs |year=1966 |title=Vergleichende Untersuchung des Wiederkauverhaltens |language=de |trans-title=Comparative investigation of cud retainers |journal=Biologisches Zentralblatt |volume=84 |issue=6 |pages=671–751 |type=dissertation |oclc=251821046}}</ref>{{efn|All artiodactyl families and about 80% of the spp. were investigated. Chewing regurgitated fodder is an idle pastime, as well as an instinct associated with appetite. Characteristic movements were analyzed for undisturbed samples of animals maintained on preserves. Group-specific differences are reported in form, rhythm, frequency, and side of chewing motion. The ungulate type is characterized as a specialization. The operation is described for the first time for the order Hyracoidea. On the basis of 12 spp. of the marsupial subfamily Macropodinae rumination is inferred for the whole category. Advantages of the process are debated.<ref name=Hendrichs-1966/>{{Verify source|Where did the quote come from? The article is in German. Who translated? |date=February 2011}}}} but the hyrax is physically incapable of regurgitation<ref>{{cite journal |last1 = Björnhag |first1 = G. |last2 = Becker |first2 = G. |last3 = Buchholz |first3 = C. |last4 = von Engelhardt |first4 = W. |year=1994 |title=The gastrointestinal tract of the rock hyrax (''Procavia habessinica''). 1. Morphology and motility patterns of the tract |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A |volume=109 |issue=3 |pages=649–653 |pmid=8529006 |doi=10.1016/0300-9629(94)90205-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Sale |first=J.B. |year=1966 |title=Daily food consumption and mode of ingestion in the Hyrax |journal=Journal of the East African Natural History Society |volume=XXV |issue=3 |page=219 |url=https://archive.org/stream/cbarchive_101826_dailyfoodconsumptionandmodeofi1966/XXV_No.3_112__215_1966_Sale#page/n1/mode/1up}}</ref> as in the even-toed ungulates and some of the macropods. This chewing behaviour may be a form of agonistic behaviour when the animal feels threatened.<ref>{{cite web | first= Natan | last= Slifkin |date=2004-03-11 |title=Chapter Six: ''Shafan'' the hyrax |series=The Camel, the Hare, and the Hyrax |url= http://www.zootorah.com/hyrax/hyrax.pdf |access-date= 25 April 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120616192614/http://www.zootorah.com/hyrax/hyrax.pdf |archive-date=16 June 2012}}</ref>
The hyrax does not construct dens, but rather seeks shelter in existing holes of varying size and configuration.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Sale |first=J.B. |date=January 1970 |title=Unusual external adaptations in the rock hyrax |journal=Zoologica Africana |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=101–113 |doi= 10.1080/00445096.1970.11447384 |doi-access=free |issn=0044-5096}}</ref> Hyraxes urinate in a designated, communal area. The viscous urine quickly dries and, over generations, accretes to form massive middens.<ref>{{cite web | last=Cutts | first=Elise | title=Stone Age Animal Urine Could Solve a Mystery about Technological Development | website=Scientific American | date=1 April 2023 | url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stone-age-animal-urine-could-solve-a-mystery-about-technological-development/ | access-date=25 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Yirka | first=Bob | title=Researchers analyzing hyrax urine layers to study climate change | website=Phys.org | date=19 February 2013 | url=https://phys.org/news/2013-02-hyrax-urine-layers-climate.html | access-date=25 October 2024}}</ref> These structures can date back thousands of years. The petrified urine itself is known as hyraceum and serves as a record of the environment, as well as being used medicinally and in perfumes.
Hyraxes inhabit rocky terrain across sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East. Their feet have rubbery pads with numerous sweat glands, which may help the animal maintain its grip when quickly moving up steep, rocky surfaces. Hyraxes have stumpy toes with hoof-like nails; four toes are on each front foot and three are on each back foot.<ref>{{cite web |title = Hyrax |website= awf.org |publisher = African Wildlife Foundation |url= http://www.awf.org/wildlife-conservation/hyrax}}</ref> They also have efficient kidneys, retaining water so that they can better survive in arid environments. They do not store body fat in the abdomen, but do store some fat around the kidneys and gonads.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://narg.caza.ca/ref/diet_rock_hyrax.pdf |title=Rock Hyrax: Diet Recommendations and Nutritional Pathology |last=McWilliams |first=Deborah |last2=Strode |first2=Yvonne |date=January 2015 |access-date=2026-05-28}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=5}}
Female hyraxes give birth to up to four young after a gestation period of seven to eight months, depending on the species. The young are weaned at 1–5 months of age, and reach sexual maturity at 16–17 months.
Hyraxes live in small family groups, with a single male that aggressively defends the territory from rivals. Where living space is abundant, the male may have sole access to multiple groups of females, each with its own range. The remaining males live solitary lives, often on the periphery of areas controlled by larger males, and mate only with younger females.<ref name=EoM>{{cite book |last = Hoeck | first = Hendrik |year=1984 |title = The Encyclopedia of Mammals |editor-last = MacDonald |editor-first = D. |publisher = Facts on File |location = New York, NY |isbn=978-0-87196-871-5 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/462 462–465] |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofma00mals_0/page/462}}</ref>
Hyraxes have highly charged myoglobin, which has been inferred to reflect an aquatic ancestry.<ref>{{cite news |title=One protein shows elephants and moles had aquatic ancestors |date=13 June 2013 | website = nationalgeographic.com | url= http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/13/one-protein-shows-elephants-and-moles-had-aquatic-ancestors/ | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130617051932/http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/13/one-protein-shows-elephants-and-moles-had-aquatic-ancestors/ | archive-date=17 June 2013}}</ref>
===Similarities with Proboscidea and Sirenia=== Hyraxes share several unusual characteristics with mammalian orders Proboscidea (elephants and their extinct relatives) and Sirenia (manatees and dugongs), which have resulted in their all being placed in the taxon Paenungulata. Male hyraxes lack a scrotum and their testicles remain tucked up in their abdominal cavity next to the kidneys,<ref>{{cite book | first=Trevor | last= Carnaby |date= January 2008 |title=Beat about the Bush: Mammals |publisher=Jacana Media |isbn=978-1-77009-240-2 |page= 293 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=hjt83FfPShsC&pg=PA293 |via = Google books }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | first=Septimus | last= Sisson |title=The anatomy of the domestic animals |year= 1914 |publisher=W.B. Saunders Company |page=577 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UgszAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA577 |via = Google books }}</ref> as do those of elephants, manatees, and dugongs.<ref>{{cite book |title=Mammal Anatomy: An illustrated guide |date=1 September 2010 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |isbn=978-0-7614-7882-9 |page=63 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=mTPI_d9fyLAC&pg=PA63 |via = Google books }}</ref> Female hyraxes have a pair of teats near their armpits (axilla), as well as four teats in their groin (inguinal area); elephants have a pair of teats near their axillae, and dugongs and manatees have a pair of teats, one located close to each of the front flippers.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dugong |website = gbrmpa.gov.au |publisher = Government of Australia |series = Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority |url= http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/the-reef/animals/dugong}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schrichte |first=David |date=7 June 2023 |title=Reproduction |website= SavetheManatee.org |url= https://www.savethemanatee.org/manatees/reproduction/}}</ref> The tusks of hyraxes develop from the incisor teeth as do the tusks of elephants; most mammalian tusks develop from the canines. Hyraxes, like elephants, have flattened nails on the tips of their digits, rather than the curved, elongated claws usually seen on mammals.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://live.staticflickr.com/7817/32178776167_a38f07471d_b.jpg |title=Picture of hyrax feet}} Dupont, Bernard</ref>
==Evolution== [[File:Pachyhyrax championi.JPG|thumb|''Pachyhyrax championi'', a large fossil hyrax from the Miocene of Rusinga, Kenya (Natural History Museum collection)]] All modern hyraxes are members of the family Procaviidae (the only living family within Hyracoidea) and are found only in Africa and the Middle East. In the past, however, hyraxes were more diverse and widespread. At one site in Egypt, the order first appears in the fossil record in the form of ''Dimaitherium'', 37 million years ago, but much older fossils exist elsewhere.<ref>{{Cite journal |first1=Eugenie |last1=Barrow |first2=Erik R. |last2=Seiffert |first3=Elwyn L. |last3=Simons |year=2010 |title=A primitive hyracoid (Mammalia, Paenungulata) from the early Priabonian (Late Eocene) of Egypt |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=213–244 |doi=10.1080/14772010903450407 |bibcode=2010JSPal...8..213B |s2cid=84398730 }}</ref> For many millions of years, hyraxes, proboscideans, and other afrotherian mammals were the primary terrestrial herbivores in Africa, just as odd-toed ungulates were in North America.
Through the middle to late Eocene, many different species existed.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prothero |first=Donald R. |title=After the Dinosaurs: The Age of Mammals |publisher=Indiana University Press |year=2006 |location=Bloomington, Indiana |page=132 |isbn=978-0-253-34733-6}}</ref> The smallest of these were the size of a mouse but others were much larger than any extant relatives. ''Titanohyrax'' could reach {{cvt|600|kg}} or even as much as over {{cvt|1300|kg|lb}}.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Rodolphe |last=Tabuce |year=2016 |title=A mandible of the hyracoid mammal Titanohyrax andrewsi in the collections of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris (France) with a reassessment of the species |journal=Palaeovertebrata |volume=40 |issue=1 |article-number = e4 |doi=10.18563/pv.40.1.e4 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301487667 }}</ref> ''Megalohyrax'' from the upper Eocene-lower Oligocene was as huge as a tapir.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Prothero | first1 = Donald R. | last2 = Schoch | first2 = Robert M. | year = 1989 | title = The Evolution of Perissodactyls | publisher = Oxford University Press | page = 65 | isbn = 978-0-19-506039-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=08YPAQAAMAAJ | via = Google books | access-date = 20 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Rose | first =Kenneth D. | date = 26 September 2006 | title = The Beginning of the Age of Mammals | publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press | place = Baltimore, MD | isbn = 978-0-8018-8472-6 | page = 260 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=3bs0D5ix4VAC&dq=Megalohyrax+size&pg=PA260 | via = Google books | access-date = 20 September 2022}}</ref> During the Miocene, however, competition from the newly developed bovids, which were very efficient grazers and browsers, displaced the hyraxes into marginal niches. Nevertheless, the order remained widespread and diverse as late as the end of the Pliocene (about two million years ago) with representatives throughout most of Africa, Europe, and Asia.
[[File:Comparison of size in living hyrax, Procavia johnstoni (right), and Prohyrax hendeyi from the Namibian early mid Miocene site of Arrisdrift. Reconstructed shoulder height of Prohyrax 37 cm..jpg|thumb|right|Restoration of the large, prehistoric ''Prohyrax'' next to a modern hyrax]] The descendants of the giant "hyracoids" (common ancestors to the hyraxes, elephants, and sirenians) evolved in different ways. Some became smaller, and evolved to become the modern hyrax family. Others appear to have taken to the water (perhaps like the modern capybara), ultimately giving rise to the elephant family and perhaps also the sirenians. DNA evidence supports this hypothesis, and the small modern hyraxes share numerous features with elephants, such as toenails, excellent hearing, sensitive pads on their feet, small tusks, good memory, higher brain functions compared with other similar mammals, and the shape of some of their bones.<ref>{{cite episode |title=Hyrax: The little brother of the elephant |series=Wildlife on One |network=BBC TV}}</ref>
Hyraxes are sometimes described as being the closest living relative of the elephant,<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 January 2009 |title=Hyrax song is a menu for mating |url=http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12926018 |access-date=15 January 2009 |newspaper=The Economist|url-access=limited|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090117013241/http://www.economist.com/science/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12926018|archive-date=17 January 2009}}</ref> although this is disputed. Recent morphological- and molecular-based classifications reveal the sirenians to be the closest living relatives of elephants. While hyraxes are closely related, they form a taxonomic outgroup to the assemblage of elephants, sirenians, and the extinct orders Embrithopoda and Desmostylia.<ref name=Asher>{{cite journal |last1=Asher |first1=R.J. |last2=Novacek |first2=M.J. |last3=Geisher |first3=J.H. |year=2003 |title=Relationships of endemic African mammals and their fossil relatives based on morphological and molecular evidence |journal=Journal of Mammalian Evolution |volume=10 |issue=1–2 |pages=131–194 |doi=10.1023/A:1025504124129 |s2cid=39296485 }}</ref>
The extinct meridiungulate family Archaeohyracidae, consisting of seven genera of notoungulate mammals known from the Paleocene through the Oligocene of South America,<ref>{{cite book |last1 = McKenna |first1 = Malcolm C. |last2 = Bell |first2 = Susan K. |year = 1997 |title = Classification of Mammals above the Species Level |publisher = Columbia University Press |place = New York, NY |isbn = 0-231-11013-8}}</ref> is a group unrelated to the true hyraxes. {{cladogram |title=Phylogeny of early hyracoids |cladogram = {{clade|style=font-size:85%;line-height:75%;width:300px; |label1=Eutheria |1={{clade |1={{clade |1={{clade |label1=Perissodactyla{{efn|group=upper-alpha|The relationship of hyracoids and perissodactyls is controversial, and not supported by molecular data.}} |1=(horses, asses, and zebras; rhinos; and tapirs) |state1=none }} |2={{clade |label1={{extinct}}Phenacodontidae{{efn|group=upper-alpha|The position of the phenacodontids has been long unresolved; some authorities suspect that they are basal members of the perissodactyls, but that placement is contested.<ref name=Cooper-Seiffert-etal-2014/><ref name=Paleodb-42284/>}} |1={{zws}} |state1=none }} }} |label2=Afrotheria |2={{clade |label1=Proboscidea |1=(elephants, mammoths, and mastodons) |label2=Hyracoidea |2={{clade |1={{extinct}}''Seggeurius'' |2={{clade |1={{extinct}}''Microhyrax'' |2={{clade |label1=Geniohyiinae |1={{extinct}}''Geniohyus'' |label2= {{nobr| {{extinct}}Saghatheriinae{{efn|group=upper-alpha|Modern-day hyrax species (Procaviidae) may have evolved from smaller members of one of the Saghatheriinae.}} }} |2={{clade |1={{extinct}}''Bunohyrax'' |2={{clade |1={{extinct}}''Pachyhyrax'' |2={{clade |1={{extinct}}''Thyrohyrax'' |2={{clade |1={{extinct}}''Megalohyrax'' |2={{clade |1={{clade |1={{nobr| {{extinct}}''Antilohyrax'' }} |2={{nobr| {{extinct}}''Titanohyrax'' }} }} |2={{clade |1={{nobr| {{extinct}}''Saghatherium'' }} |2={{nobr| {{extinct}}''Selenohyrax'' }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} |caption=A phylogeny of hyracoids known from the early Eocene through the middle Oligocene epoch.<ref name=Grbrt-Dnmg-Tssy-2005/> : {{notelist|group=upper-alpha}} }}
==Extant species== [[File:Beecroft'sTreeHyrax.JPG|thumb|Western tree hyrax in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]] In the 2000s, taxonomists reduced the number of recognized species of hyraxes. In 1995, they recognized 11 species or more. However, as of 2013, only four were recognized, with the others all considered as subspecies of one of the recognized four. Over 50 subspecies and species are described, many of which are considered highly endangered.<ref name=MSW3>{{MSW3 Shoshani |pages=87–89 |id=11400002}}</ref> The most recently identified species is ''Dendrohyrax interfluvialis'', which is a tree hyrax living between the Volta and Niger rivers in West Africa, but makes a unique barking call that is distinct from the shrieking vocalizations of hyraxes inhabiting other regions of the African forest zone.<ref>{{cite news |title = Barks in the night lead to the discovery of new species |date = June 2021 |website = phys.org |url=https://phys.org/news/2021-06-barks-night-discovery-species.html}}</ref>
The following cladogram shows the relationship between the extant genera:<ref name=Pickford2005>{{cite journal |last1= Pickford |first1= M. |date= December 2005 |title= Fossil hyraxes (Hyracoidea: Mammalia) from the Late Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene of Africa, and the phylogeny of the Procaviidae |journal= Palaeontologica Africana |volume= 41 |pages = 141–161 |url= https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/e727f1bc-14a0-4ca0-acad-bcbca6780d7e/content#page=141 |access-date= 14 October 2023}}</ref>
{{clade |style=font-size:85%;line-height:75%; |label1=Hyracoidea |sublabel1=(order) |1={{clade |label1={{extinct}}Pliohyracidae |sublabel1=(family) |1=(extinct hyrax genera; uncertain position) |label2='''Procaviidae''' |sublabel2=(family) |2={{clade |1={{clade |label1=''Heterohyrax'' |sublabel1=(genus) |1=Yellow-spotted rock hyrax, ''H. brucei'' |label2=''Procavia'' |sublabel2=(genus) |2=Rock hyrax, ''P. capensis'' }} |2={{clade |label1=''Dendrohyrax'' |sublabel1=(genus) |1={{clade |1=Western tree hyrax, ''D. dorsalis'' |2=Benin tree hyrax, ''D. interfluvialis''<ref name=Oates-Woodman-etal-2022/> |3={{clade |1=Southern tree hyrax, ''D. arboreus arboreus'' |2=Eastern tree hyrax, ''D. arboreus validus''<ref name=IUCN-RedList/> }} }} }} }} }} }}
==Human interactions==
===Biblical references=== [[File:Klipdas.jpg|thumb|right|Young hyrax on Mount Kenya]] References are made to hyraxes in the Hebrew Bible. In Leviticus they are described as lacking a split hoof and therefore not being kosher. Some of the modern translations refer to them as rock hyraxes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hart |first=Henry Chichester |year=2012 |title=Animals Mentioned in the Bible ... |publisher=Nabu Press |isbn=978-1-278-43311-0 |oclc=936245561}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wood |first=John George |year=1877 |title=Wood's Bible Animals |publisher=J.W. Lyon |place=London, UK |oclc=976950183 |quote = A description of the habits, structure, and uses of every living creature mentioned in the Scriptures, from the ape to the coral; and explaining all those passages in the Hebrew Bibles and the Christian Old Testament in which reference is made to beast, bird, reptile, fish, or insect. Illustrated with over one hundred new designs}} :see also {{harvp|Wood|2014}} [1888]</ref> The words "rabbit", "hare", "coney", and "daman" appear as terms for the hyrax in some English translations of the Bible.<ref>{{cite book |last = Wood |first = John George |year = 2014 |orig-date = 1888 |edition = scanned |title = Story of the Bible Animals |quote = A description of the habits and uses of every living creature mentioned in the scriptures, with explanation of passages in the Old and New Testament in which reference is made to them |publisher = Charles Foster's Publications |place = Philadelphia, PA |via = Project Gutenberg |oclc = 979571526 |page = [https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/44685/pg44685-images.html#hyrax 367–371] |url = https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44685 |access-date = 12 June 2024}} :see also {{harvp|Wood|1877}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last = Buel |first = James W. |year = 1889 |title = The Living World |quote = A complete natural history of the world's creatures, fishes, reptiles, insects, birds and mammals |publisher = Holloway & Co. |location = St. Louis, MO |doi = 10.5962/bhl.title.163548}}</ref> Early English translators had no knowledge of the hyrax, so they did not give a name for them, though "badger" or "rock-badger" has also been used more recently in new translations, especially in "common language" translations such as the Common English Bible (2011).<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Elwell |first1 = Walter A. |last2 = Comfort |first2 = Philip Wesley |year = 2008 |title = Tyndale Bible dictionary |publisher = Tyndale House Publishers |isbn = 978-1-4143-1945-2 |oclc = 232301052}}</ref>
==="Spain"=== One of the proposed etymologies for "Spain" is that it may be a derivation of the Phoenician ''I-Shpania'', meaning "island of hyraxes", "land of hyraxes", but the Phoenician-speaking Carthaginians are believed to have used this name to refer to rabbits, animals with which they were unfamiliar.<ref>{{cite news |first = Richard |last = Scrase |date = 2014-11-09 |title = Rabbits, fish and mice, but no rock hyrax |website = Understanding Animal Research |department = (staff blog) |url = http://www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/staff-blog/rabbits-fish-and-mice-but-no-rock-hyrax/}}</ref> Roman coins struck in the region from the reign of Hadrian show a female figure with a rabbit at her feet,<ref name=burke>{{cite book |last = Burke |first = Ulick Ralph |year = 1895 |title = A History of Spain: From the earliest times to the death of Ferdinand the Catholic |volume=1 |page = 12 |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co |location = London, UK |hdl = 2027/hvd.fl29jg?urlappend=%3Bseq=36 |url = http://hdl.handle.net/2027/hvd.fl29jg?urlappend=%3Bseq=36}}</ref> and Strabo called it the "land of the 'rabbits{{'"}}.<ref name=Spain>{{CathEncy|wstitle=Spain}}</ref>
==Footnotes== {{notelist}}
==See also== * Altungulata
{{clear}} <!--avoid squeezing ref cols-->
==References== {{reflist|25em|refs=
<ref name=Cooper-Seiffert-etal-2014> {{cite journal |last1=Cooper |first1=L.N. |last2=Seiffert |first2=E.R. |last3=Clementz |first3=M. |last4=Madar |first4=S.I. |last5=Bajpai |first5=S. |last6=Hussain |first6=S.T. |last7=Thewissen |first7=J.G.M. |author7-link = Hans Thewissen |date=2014-10-08 |title=Anthracobunids from the middle Eocene of India and Pakistan are stem Perissodactyls |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=9 |issue=10 |article-number=e109232 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0109232 |doi-access=free |pmc=4189980 |pmid=25295875 |bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j9232C }} </ref>
<ref name=Grbrt-Dnmg-Tssy-2005> {{cite book |last1 = Gheerbrant |first1 = E. |last2 = Donming |first2 = D. |last3 = Tassy |first3 = P. |year = 2005 |chapter = Paenungulata (Sirenia, Proboscidea, Hyracoidea, and relatives) |editor1-last = Rose |editor1-first = Kenneth D. |editor2-last = Archibald |editor2-first = J. David |title = The Rise of Placental Mammals: Origins and relationships of the major extant clades |publisher = Johns Hopkins University Press |place = Baltimore, MD |isbn = 978-0-8018-8022-3 |pages = 84–105 |chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DhchVG_rbQ8C&pg=PA84 |via = Google books }} </ref>
<ref name=IUCN-RedList> {{cite web |title=Eastern Tree Hyrax |date=3 February 2014 |website=IUCN Red List (iucnredlist.org) |publisher=International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/136599/21288090 |access-date=17 December 2018 }} </ref>
<ref name=Oates-Woodman-etal-2022> {{cite journal |last1 =Oates |first1 =John F. |last2 =Woodman |first2 =Neal |last3 =Gaubert |first3 =Philippe |last4 =Sargis |first4 =Eric J. |last5 =Wiafe |first5 =Edward D. |last6 =Lecompte |first6 =Emilie |last7 =Dowsett-Lemaire |first7 =Françoise |last8 =Dowsett |first8 =Robert J. |last9 =Gonedelé Bi |first9 =Sery |last10=Ikemeh |first10=Rachel A. |last11=Djagoun |first11=Chabi A.M.S. |last12=Tomsett |first12=Louise |last13=Bearder |first13=Simon K. |display-authors=6 |year=2022 |title=A new species of tree hyrax (Procaviidae: ''Dendrohyrax'') from West Africa and the significance of the Niger–Volta interfluvium in mammalian biogeography |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=194 |issue=2 |pages=527–552 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlab029 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
<ref name=Paleodb-42284> {{Paleodb|42284|Phenacodontidae |access-date=21 April 2026}} </ref>
}}<!-- end "refs=" -->
==External links== * {{Wikispecies-inline|Procaviidae}} * {{Commons-inline}}
{{Mammals}} {{Paenungulata|state=collapsed}} {{Hyracoidea}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q2388549}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Hyraxes Category:Fauna of Sub-Saharan Africa Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Extant Ypresian first appearances Category:Taxa named by Thomas Henry Huxley