Hyrax

Hyrax
Hyrax
Systematics
Superordinate : Afrotheria without rank: Paenungulata Order : Schliefer (Hyracoidea) Family : Hyrax (Procaviidae) Genre : Procavia Type : Hyrax
Scientific name of the  genus
Procavia
Storr , 1780
Scientific name of the  species
Procavia capensis
( Pallas , 1766)

The rock hyrax ( Procavia capensis ), sometimes also called desert hyrax or rock badger , is a species in the order of the hyrax (Hyracoidea). Its physique is reminiscent of guinea pigs . The limbs are short and strong, a tail is missing. There is a conspicuous colored spot on the back surrounding a gland . The numerous whiskers that penetrate the coat are also striking . The rock hyrax has the largest distribution area of ​​all today's hawks. This is not closed, a distribution focus is found in southern Africa , another north of the Congo Basin and south of the Sahara . From here the deposit moves across the northeastern part of the continent to the Middle East . The inhabited habitats consist of deserts and rocky landscapes, as well as open land areas and forests. The animals can be found both in the lowlands and in high mountain areas. In large parts of Africa the rock hyrax occurs together with the bush hyrax .

The Klippschliefers way of life has been well researched. It lives in crevices and caves and occurs mainly diurnal. Plants serve as main food, their composition depends on the season and what is available: in the dry season the animals prefer soft plant food, in the rainy season it is harder. They live socially in colonies, and the social structure is complex. A group usually consists of a dominant male, the reproductive females and the offspring. In addition, there are still single males. The group goes looking for food together. The hyrax spends most of the day resting individually or in groups, which is due to the poor body temperature and the low metabolism. The occupied territory is defended against intruders. The dominant male also utters distinctive calls that are very complex. In addition, the hyrax has a wide range of social communication. Offspring are born once a year, and the females in a group often give birth at short intervals. The young are well developed at birth and sexually mature after 16 to 29 months. The young males then leave the colony. The most important predators are various birds of prey and predators .

The earliest mentions of the Klippschliefers are those from the Old Testament . More modern reports date back to the 17th century. The first scientific description dates to the year 1766, especially in the course of the 19th century the hyrax was listed in the genus Hyrax . Initially, the animals were considered to be closely related to the rodents , later they were seen more in a closer relationship with other ungulates . Several species were also recognized until the 1970s. In addition, there are still some fossil representatives, the oldest evidence dates back to the Pliocene around 5 million years ago. The current stock of the Klippschliefers is classified as safe.

features

Habitus

Two hyrax, the front one shows the dorsal spot with gland

Sole of the foot

The hyrax is the best-known representative of the hyrax. In body size it corresponds to a rabbit . More than 60 examined individuals from the Serengeti had a total length of 39.5 to 57.8 cm and a body weight of 1.8 to 5.4 kg. Another 30 measured specimens from South Africa varied in their body length from 37.6 to 62.8 cm with a body weight of 1.5 to 4.3 kg. Individual individuals are up to 76.2 cm long. Male and female animals are built about the same size. With regard to body size, variations can be determined across the entire distribution area. These partly depend on the ambient temperature, so that the rock hyrax is obviously subject to Bergmann's rule . There are precipitation-related differences in height. In areas with up to 700 mm of annual precipitation, the body dimensions usually increase continuously and then decrease again with higher precipitation.

In general, they are animals with a compact physique that look like the guinea pig or the whistling hare . The legs are short, the tail is missing. The fur is dense and consists of around 25 mm long hair, the undercoat has a dense, soft texture and is short. The back color ranges from yellowish-brownish to dark brownish. The fur often looks speckled, which is caused by the individual hairs with dark bases and tips as well as a lighter band of different widths on the shaft. On the back of the back, a differently colored spot marks an approximately 15 mm long gland . The color of the spot differs geographically and can be creamy-yellowish to brownish or blackish. The hair of the spot is erectable. The underside of the body usually appears lighter than the upper side, the hair here becomes longer and has no additional shaft bands. Albinotic animals have occasionally been observed. The fur is also interspersed with 60 to 70 mm long, dark whisker hairs . Other vibrissae appear on the face, above the eyes, on the upper lip and on the chin, their length is up to 100 mm. The forehead is often darker than the rest of the body, while lighter spots also appear over the eyes and chin. The ear length is 27 to 38 mm, the pupil of the eye has an egg-shaped shape. In strong sunlight, an additional shield protrudes from the upper part of the iris , called the umbraculum ("umbrella"), giving the pupil a kidney-like shape. The hands have four rays and the feet have three rays. A curved claw is only formed on the inner toe of the hind foot, all other toes and fingers have flat, hoof-like nails. The soles are dark and bare and covered with a leathery pad of skin that is interspersed with numerous glands.

In males, the is penis about 35 mm in front of the anus , which is twice as large distance towards the tree hyraxes ( Dendrohyrax ), but only about half of the space in the yellow-spotted rock hyrax ( Heterohyrax equivalent). The penis is simply built with an oval cross-section. Females have three pairs of teats , two of which are in the groin area, but the third is in the chest area.

Skull and dentition features

Skull of the clip sleeper

The greatest length of the skull varies from 80 to 104.2 mm, the greatest width from 41.7 to 64.9 mm. With regard to the length of the skull, there are only a few differences between the sexes, but the width of the skull is significantly larger in males, as they develop a stronger zygomatic arch with more massive masticatory muscles. The rostrum is generally relatively short, the forehead line is straight, the occiput is vertical and wide. The orbits are wide apart and directed forward, they have an oval shape. The interparietal bone (a skull bone between the occiput and the parietal bones ) is mostly overgrown by the parietal bones. The temporal ridges are close together and partially form a crest . The postorbital arch is mostly not closed. At the base of the skull the long and pointed paroccipital process is striking , which extends deeper than the flat tympanic bladder . The lower jaw looks massive, the ascending branch is very wide. The angular process widens backwards into a small plate. The crown process protrudes only a little above the articular process. It is short and slightly bent backwards. The mental foramen opens below the third premolar .

Hyrax, the two maxillary incisors are clearly visible

The dentition consists of 32 teeth and forms following dental formula : . This slightly reduces the number of teeth compared to the other hybrids. The foremost lower premolar is absent, especially in the southern populations , which is considered to be a definite distinguishing feature from the bush hyrax. In the animals in the northern distribution areas, however, the tooth is common, but is rather small. The upper incisor resembles a canine tooth ( caniniform ). There is a clear gender dimorphism , which is more pronounced than in the other sleepers. Males have a large, massive maxillary incisor that has a triangular cross-section. It closes with the outer lower incisor. In females, it is smaller and round in cross-section, and it is centered across from the two lower incisors. The incisors of the lower jaw are flat, young animals often still have the division into three cusps typical of hyraxes ( tricuspid or trifid ), but this is lost in older individuals due to wear and tear. Both the upper and lower internal incisors are not closed. The diastema that separates the incisors from the rear dentition is short, but longer in the upper dentition than in the lower dentition. The molars generally have high crowns ( hypsodont ). In the upper jaw, the row of molars becomes longer than the row of premolar teeth. ${\displaystyle {\frac {1.0.4.3}{2.0.3.3}}}$

distribution

Distribution area of ​​the Klippschliefers

The hyrax occurs in large parts of Africa and western Asia , but its range is not closed. A northern distribution focus is limited to Africa south of the Sahara and north of the Congo Basin . It extends in the west from Senegal and the south from Mauritania to the east to Uganda , Kenya and the north of Tanzania . To the north, it then stretches along the eastern bank of the Nile over the Sinai to Israel and Lebanon, on to the mountainous west coast of the Arabian Peninsula with Saudi Arabia , Yemen and Oman . The occurrence of the animals in Syria and Turkey is unconfirmed. The northern border in Africa is not exactly known, individual island populations from Algeria and Libya have been recorded , for example in the Akkakus Mountains , on the Ahaggar Plateau and in the Tibesti . The southern distribution area includes southern Africa and further north includes the east of Botswana , the south of Zimbabwe and the south-east of Zambia as well as the coastal regions of Namibia and Angola .

The animals inhabit a variety of landscapes consisting of deserts , savannas and tropical rainforests . They prefer habitats with kopjes , scree fields or steep cliffs that offer numerous cavities and hiding places as shelter. The hyrax has partially developed erosion areas such as the Karoo . In areas with a strong overpopulation, he also avoids in burrows of the aardvark or meerkats . Under certain circumstances, the animals can penetrate into the areas of human settlements if, for example, suitable shelters have been created there due to accompanying urban planning circumstances. The altitude distribution extends from sea level to around 4300 m as on Mount Kenya or 4130 m as in the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia. In many areas of Africa the rock hyrax occurs sympatric with the bush hyrax , both species sometimes inhabit the same Kopjes. In the Serengeti the population density varies between 5 and 56 animals per hectare of Kopje. The group density fluctuates over time, as a 17-year study shows. The number of individuals increased continuously from 2 animals in 1971 to 18 animals in 1988 on a 3600 m² Kopje. On another, 2000 m² Kopje, it increased from 5 to 21 animals between 1971 and 1976, then fell to 10 by 1984 and was again 11 in 1988. Local events can also lead to the extinction of individual groups, as in 1975 on a 2500 m² Kopje observed. Comparable fluctuations could be determined during a 13-year research in the Matobo National Park in Zimbabwe. Between 1992 and 1996 the density of individuals was 0.73 to 0.94 animals per hectare, which corresponds to a total population in the protected area of ​​around 31,100 to 40,000 animals. By 1998 the density rose to around 1.4 individuals per hectare with an estimated 59,200 individual animals, but was reduced again to around 0.8 individuals per hectare by 2005. However, there was another high in 2003, which was almost the same as in 1998. From 2003 to 2004 alone, the population shrank by 43%. The number of individuals actually observed in the two years at 28 investigated sites was 663 and 378 animals, respectively. A respective increase in the population during the study period correlated with rainy periods and an increased number of offspring. Precipitation is obviously an influencing factor. Comparable figures are also documented for the Bale Mountains. In a study period from 2010 to 2013, an average of up to 30,000 individuals were counted at nine locations on an area of ​​around 50.3 km². The population density ranged from 25 to 1700 animals per square kilometer. The number and density of the individuals showed significant differences between the rainy and dry seasons, with higher values ​​in each case in the wet part of the year.

Way of life

Territorial behavior

Social organization

A group of rock sleepers in a rocky landscape in the Golan Heights

Hyrax climbing on Table Mountain , South Africa

The hyrax lives in colonies of up to 80 animals in rugged, rocky areas or in regions with kopjes. These are rock formations several thousand square meters in size, which rise up to 40 m high as "island mountains". The colonies consist of a dominant male and several related females as well as the young. Depending on the size of the Kopjes, the colonies vary in size. In the Serengeti , a group examined in the 1970s on a 2500 m² Kopje consisted of an average of 9.9 and a maximum of 15 individuals. Another group on a 10,050 m² Kopje comprised an average of 26 individuals, and was found here together with a colony of bush slippers. In the En Gedi National Park in Israel, the group size varied between 5 and 18, 6 and 10 and 7 and 21 individuals during a ten-year documentation period. Corresponding figures for the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia vary between 4 and 86 individuals per colony with a total of 63 documented colonies. In the rainy season the group consists of an average of 49, in the dry season of an average of 38 individuals. The number of colonies also depends on the season. Smaller Kopjes are mostly inhabited by a group that uses the entire area. There are also several colonies on larger ones, each of the groups then occupying its own territory.

Different ranks of males occur within a hyrax population. The dominant or territorial male occupies a female group and defends them against rivals. It mates with the sexually ready, adult females of the group. On larger Kopjes with several colonies there are also "marginal men". These do not have their own group, but rather settle solitary on the edge of colonies, where they tend to copulate with younger females. There is a hierarchy under the individual “marginal men” so that the highest ranking person takes over the group if a territorial male disappears. In addition, there are early and late emigrants. These are predominantly young, adult males who have left their ancestral family group and are wandering around. They become “fringe men” or change the Kopjes and start new family groups. It is not clear whether there are differences in rank among the females within a group. Often, however, adult females lead the group on their migrations to the feeding grounds. They also initially behave aggressively towards unfamiliar females. Studies on animals from Israel show that females in a group obviously differ in their testosterone level, which can possibly reach that of the male. It is not yet clear whether this actually indicates a social rank. In southern Africa it has been observed that the adult females and the territorial male tend to occupy the central areas of a Kopje, while the juveniles are more peripheral.

In addition to the young males, isolated females also leave the original family group and join a new one. Both the migratory males and the migratory females probably form the basis of the new colonies. The distances covered vary depending on the landscape and are around 2 km and more in the Serengeti, and 250 to 500 m in south-western Africa. Overcoming greater distances in the relevant areas involves crossing open landscapes and therefore the risk of being preyed on by predators or of being exposed to increased stress from the weather or lack of food. Kopjes that are further away would also complicate the gene flow between the individual colonies. However, genetic studies show that the variability in the rock hyrax is very low and that there is a certain degree of inbreeding in individual family groups .

Shelter and energy balance

A group of rock sleepers in En Gedi National Park, Israel

The hyrax is diurnal. It moves neatly in the rocky habitat . His feet are not adapted for digging, but for climbing steep steps, smooth rock surfaces and trees. This is caused by the highly contractible, leathery soles of the feet. The glands formed there secrete a secretion that increases the grip. In the rocky landscapes and Kopjes, the hyrax uses caves and crevices as shelter. The entrance heights are around 14 to 15 cm, which is roughly twice the height of the skull. This allows the hyrax to crawl safely into the caves, but possible larger predators are kept away. The caves must also be able to accommodate a family group, which requires around 1 m² of floor space. As a rule, the rock hyrax settles in rock formations with several caves in close proximity to one another. The individual entrances are connected above ground with paths. The caves have a more balanced climate than the immediate surroundings. In the East African lowland areas, the temperature within the shelters fluctuates between 14 and 32 ° C, depending on the region, while it can rise to over 40 ° C in the surrounding area. In the high mountain regions, they also protect against frosty conditions. The same applies to the humidity, which has a lower range in the caves and crevices than in the immediate vicinity. The body temperature of the Klippschliefers is unstable and varies, usually it drops by several degrees at night. The maximum values ​​range from 33.5 ° C in the early morning to 40.5 ° C in the late afternoon. In the warmer seasons, the average body temperature is higher than in the cooler, and it fluctuates more significantly in summer than in winter. It is similar with day and night. The fluctuation ranges of body temperature in summer are twice as high during the day as at night, and in winter they approach more closely. It is noticeable that the changes in body temperature are not necessarily associated with the daily changes in ambient temperature. The thermo-neutral zone is 20 to 30 ° C, the value is usually exceeded by the outside temperatures in the warm season, but not always reached in the cool season. Associated with the varying body temperature is also a low metabolic rate , which is 30% lower than would be expected in an animal of the same size. Both are weight-related and increase with increasing body weight. The hyrax saves energy due to the unstable body temperature and the low metabolism, but is dependent on compensatory hiding places.

Daily activity

Resting hyrax in Augrabies National Park , South Africa, the animal in the middle has its legs stretched out with the soles of the feet up

The low metabolism and unstable body temperature also affect the daily activity of the Klippschliefers. The sleep phase lasts an average of 6 hours and 50 minutes, which corresponds to more than a quarter of the day. With the exception of the daily feeding phases or the mating season, undisturbed animals spend the day mostly resting. This takes place inside or outside the shelters and takes up more than 90% of the time available daily. The animals often form groups during the cooler times of the day and seasons, in which they are either close to one another or partly on top of one another, the heads of the individual individuals always pointing outwards. In the latter, young animals usually climb the upper positions. Such group formations are mainly found in the early morning, when the animals leave their hiding places, but parts of the Kopjes are still in the shade. When the sun is higher, the groups disintegrate and the animals then rest individually. They are parallel to each other or in a rectified, slightly radial position with their heads a little further apart. As a rule, the legs are bent and stretched backwards, the soles pointing upwards. Depending on the intensity of the sun, they often change their position to allow other parts of the body to shine. The early morning group formation influences the body temperature and serves to warm up after cool nights, individual sunbathing supports energy storage, especially during the day. In the hot phases of the day, the hyrax retreats into the shade, possibly to avoid greater water loss through transpiration . Part of the rest phase is used for body and coat care. Both the claw of the rear foot and the lower incisors are used for both. In addition to sunbathing, there are also sand or dust baths, which are more likely to be useful for removing external parasites .

Social interactions

As a socially living animal, the hyrax has various forms of communication. The clustering together at cooler temperatures not only has the effect of stabilizing the body temperature, it also enables better detection of predators. It also supports a stronger social bond and reduces the potential for aggression. The same probably applies to the fan-shaped or opposite position of different animals when sunbathing individually. In general, head-to-head encounters are to be understood as antagonistic behavior in the hyrax. Aggressive behavior mainly takes place between males during the mating season. When excited, an animal straightens the hair of the back spot. The angle at which the hair stands up provides information about the type of arousal. An angle of 45 ° is interpreted as an alarm signal, but a vertical upright position as a threat. In addition, the animal then pulls back the upper lip and presents the long upper incisors. In contrast, a male shows his excitement in the mating season to a female with fully erect hair. In addition to these clear visual signs, the sense of smell is also very important. Here, among other things, the secretions of the back gland are used, which are used, for example, to establish mother-young animal relationships. But they are not used to mark the territory. The latrines , in which the animals of a colony defecate, play an important role . During the mating season, males go to latrines to find females ready to receive. In the latrines, the feces and the urine enriched with salt combine to form a viscous mass that partially flows down the rock. The mass solidifies over time and fades. It is known as " Hyraceum " and is used partly in powder form in traditional African medicine .

Speech and communication

Above all, the sound communication is very varied in the Klip hyrax. At least 21 different sounds are documented. Different grunting, humming, squeaking, growling, snorting and barking sounds predominate, which are emitted in different situations and mostly express aggression, pacification or withdrawal. The dominant male grunts when another individual comes too close while eating, and when confronted continuously it growls and turns into a bite attack. The hyrax counteracts a long-lasting threat with a moaning or rasping sound or with a brief outcry. What is striking is a barking warning call that a guard animal emits in the event of a possible threat. Typical for females are weeping or cooing sounds after the birth of the offspring, which are sometimes used as calls for the young. Young animals that want to suckle milk let out a chirping sound. Whistling and chirping mark a peaceful encounter, but it also sounds in boys when they are satisfied, for example after sucking. However, a hard chirp also means aggression. The various known utterances of the Klippschliefers can also merge with one another with increasing intensity. In addition, some non-vocal sounds are known, including grinding teeth, panting, puffing and sneezing, the function of which is partly unclear. The former often occurs in dangerous or stressful situations in which an animal is confronted with unknown factors. The grinding movements carried out with the mouth generate the sound and are visually reminiscent of ruminating ungulates without any food being processed.

Spectrogram of a territorial call of the Klippschliefers (below) with assumed implementation in notes (above)

Outstanding is the male's territorial call, which reaches a high volume and is carried over long distances, up to 500 m. As a rule, the calls are made by the dominant males, less often by "fringe males". This is also shown by analyzes of the hormone balance , in which dominant callers usually also have a higher cortisol level. The call consists of a series of bells or clacks, which become louder and longer towards the end and merge into a series of gurls. The conclusion has a crescendo-like effect due to the constant increase . The series is repeated several times after a short break, so that the call can last up to five minutes in total. The territorial call sounds all year round, the intensity increases towards the mating season. A male often uses it to encourage neighboring males to also call. Dominant males then usually start a “countercall” regardless of the rank of the first caller, whereas “marginal males” rarely answer and accept the territory of the dominant animal. However, very low-ranking “marginalized males” occasionally let out a “countercall”, which is due to the general tolerance of high-ranking individuals towards young, not directly competing males. In addition, males respond to calls from known neighbors more often than to those from unknown individuals. The complexity of the males' calls can increase or decrease with advancing age. As a rule, this increases in the case of “marginal men” who rise in their social status. In the case of dominant males, however, there is some signs of a decline. This can be related to increased competition and involvement in territorial battles and generally express a weakening of competitiveness. In addition, a strategic change in competitive behavior is also conceivable.

The calls are quite different in their individual sequence and can be assigned to individual animals. Investigations on rock slippers from Israel show that there are also marked variations between individual geographical regions. These differences could be understood as "syntactic dialects", whereby their regional characteristics are due to the animals' only short distances; accordingly, the "syntactic dialects" are learned from the local populations. Within the individually variable call, the caller apparently transmits important information relating to body weight, height, general condition as well as social and hormonal status. This is done through different volumes and call lengths, through the number of repetitions or through the addition or omission of individual call elements and through the frequency . Snorting sounds serve as information carriers for body weight and social status. These are mostly used by higher-ranking animals and, as a rather rare sound element, may be difficult to generate. Often the snort of heavy animals have a soft tone, while those of socially high-ranking animals have a hard tone, the latter is probably due to social competition and the associated aggressiveness.

The typical structure of a call with its crescendo-like ending may serve to grab the attention of a potential listener. This means that it can be assumed that the most important information is at the end of a call. The intensity and complexity of the calls also increase with certain events, such as alarm calls, rival fights between males or in the presence of predators. The calls get longer, their rhythm increases, as does the number of clicks and snorts. Longer and faster calls with a high change in sound elements require a stronger muscle control of the calling animal. Obviously, an individual invests more energy in his calls in situations in which a larger number of listeners is available due to attention-grabbing events.

nutrition

Hyrax with plants in its mouth

The hyrax is a herbivore. Among other things, it eats grass , herbs , buds , sprouts , fruits and berries . According to studies in the Serengeti, the animals there feed on a total of 79 different plant species. Unlike the bush hyrax, the rock hyrax shows a strong seasonal variability in terms of the food consumed. In the dry season, softer parts of the plant predominate with 57%, special food plants include cordias , hibiscus , figs , nightshades and star bushes as well as Vachellia , Iboza and Hoslundia . In contrast, the grass content increases to 78% in the rainy season. Here the hyrax prefers two dozen different types of grass, including panicle millet , lamp cleaner grass and Themeda grasses. The individual family groups show a specialization in the plants in the immediate vicinity of the Kopjes, the composition of the food therefore differs between the colonies. Similar behavior could also be observed in the Cape region in southern Africa. A wide range of food plants is also documented here, but about ten plant species predominate, which make up around 80% of the diet. Of great importance are the blackthorn acacia and the genus Ziziphus , but also representatives of the olive trees , capasters , clematis and buckthorns . In the transition from the hot dry season to the rainy season, the proportion of grass increases significantly and reaches more than half of the plants ingested. Here, sweet grasses such as Enneapogon or Aristida , but also dog tooth grasses , love grasses and feather grasses are important sources of food. Above all, the various types of Enneapogon make up up to 40% of the amount of food. In high mountain areas such as Mount Kenya , the range of food crops is more limited by the sparse vegetation. Here form lobelia and tussock grasses an important part of the diet, in addition, also Fettenhennen and valerians . According to analyzes of the stomach contents, the food is partly composed of over 90% grass. The consumption of the poisonous pokeweed was reported from a colony in western Kenya on the eastern wall of the East African Rift , but the animals often avoid other plants such as stalk grass . The hyrax takes in its fluid requirements through food, it has efficient kidneys and can concentrate urine highly. If water is available, he drinks it regularly.

Most of the time, the hyrax goes in search of food in the early morning between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. and in the late afternoon between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Occasionally you can see the hyrax eating at night. In cold periods, food intake is limited to just one period of activity. In principle, however, the time of food intake is not temperature-dependent, but is controlled by daylight. The food intake is divided into individual feeding periods that last an average of 20 minutes and rarely last longer than 35 minutes. In this short time an animal can ingest large quantities of plants. As a result, the total daily eating time is only one to two hours, which is extremely short for a herbivore. The total daily intake of food amounts to around 111 g dry matter for an animal weighing around 3.3 kg, which corresponds to a good 33.6 g per kilogram of body weight. When eating, the hyrax holds its head to the side at a 90 ° angle to the body and bites off the plant with its molars, the front feet or the incisors are not used. The hyrax does not transport its food into its shelter either. Rather, the food is chewed on site with lateral chewing movements. The hyrax absorbs water with its lips, which it extends to the surface of the water and then gulps in the liquid. Usually the group goes looking for food together, the animals spread out in a fan shape with their backs to the head. Sometimes an individual observes the group from an elevated position and gives warning calls if necessary. The group is usually only 15 to 20 m away from the Kopje. In the Karoo National Park , daily foraging distances of 169 to 572 m have been recorded. Individual animals search for food only sporadically. In areas with the simultaneous occurrence of the bush sleeper, both groups can often be seen eating mixed. This is limited to the dry season when both species feed on soft plants. In the rainy season, the two species are separate, as the rock hyrax has to overcome greater distances to the grassy areas. The grazed areas are between 83 and 180 m², their size depends on the amount of precipitation.

Reproduction

Mother with cub in the Serengeti

Suckling hyrax in Hermanus , South Africa

Mating takes place once a year, during which both males and females become sexually active for a short period of time. In the Mountain Zebra National Park in southern Africa, the main season is from February to May with a peak in April. To the north in warmer climates, the mating season shifts somewhat and expands in time, it can then only take place in June / July, which was also determined for the more equatorial Serengeti area. The females' estrus lasts about 13 days and repeats several times over a seven week period. In males, the testicles swell extremely, sometimes by more than ten times their weight (from an average of 6.2 to 80.7 g). During the mating season, males are very vocal, and they also use their back glands to give off scent marks. Females signal their readiness by raising the hair on their back fur, sniffing the males' genitals, and presenting their rump. To initiate the sexual act, the male utters a call and the female presses against his side. The mating itself takes place relatively quickly.

The gestation period is 210 to 240 days or 7 to 8 months, which is extremely long for an animal of this size. Accordingly, the birth of the offspring takes place between September and May. The females of a colony give birth to their young synchronized over a period of three weeks. Around half of all females are involved. The litter size varies regionally, but is between one and five boys in total. In the Serengeti it averages 2.4, in Mountain Zebra National Park 2.7 and in Matobo National Park also 2.4. It is noteworthy that the size of a litter increases with the age of a female. According to studies in the Mountain Zebra National Park, young females gave birth to an average of 2.0 to 2.1 cubs, and an average of 3.0 to 3.4 cubs in three to eight-year-old animals. As they got older, the litter size decreased again. The boys weigh between 110 and 310 g with an average of 195 g. The total weight of a litter can vary between 560 and 875 g, which is a significant part of the normal weight of the dam (2500 to 3600 g).

Young animals riding on old animals

The newborns are born in the shelter. They are very developed and are born with their eyes open and completely hairy. They can also run around immediately. A baby is suckling for the first time just an hour after birth, which takes about seven minutes and is repeated after an hour and a half. The suction time is later reduced to around three minutes. Often the sucking is accompanied by a chirping sound. After two to four days, the young animal nibbles on plant-based food for the first time. At this point it can jump around 40 to 50 cm high. In the second week of life, the young then regularly eats solid food. Weaning takes place after one to four months. The young animals come together in groups and play intensively with one another, the common activities consist of pinching and biting, climbing, chasing, fighting or pushing. When appearing together with the hyrax, mixed groups of boys can also be observed. Sexual maturity occurs after around 16 months in females; in males this takes up to 29 months. The weight of adult individuals is only reached after about three years. The lifespan of females in the wild can be up to 11 years, while that of males in isolated colonies can be up to 8.5 years. In captivity, individuals lived to be up to 14 years old.

Predators and parasites

Coffee eagle , the most important predator of the klippschliefers

The most important predator of the Klippschliefers is the coffee eagle . According to studies of 73 nesting sites in three different biotopes in the Cape region of southern Africa, the hyrax is the main component of the bird of prey's diet. Of the 5748 individuals preyed, 4,429 belonged to the hyrax species. Depending on the biotope, these included between 11 and 33% young animals. A study in Matobo National Park on 40 nests came to a similar result. Of around 1550 remains of the coffee eagle's prey, a little over 600 could be assigned to the hyrax. Further studies showed that around 68% of the captured individuals represent adult animals. The rock hyrax and the bush hyrax, which also occur here, represent a total of 98% of the prey of the coffee eagle. As a result, there is high hunting pressure on the hyrax, it is estimated that around 60 to 76% of the young do not reach the first year of life. Another important hunter is the crown eagle . According to studies of around 1600 captured individuals in southeastern Africa, more than 780 belonged to the rock hyrax. The martial eagle and the predatory eagle should also be mentioned. Among the mammals, the leopard , the lion , the caracal , the spotted hyena and various jackals can be highlighted as influential predators; the former alone obtains between 32 and 50% of its prey from snakes in Matobo National Park. As a rule, a threatened animal tries to flee to the next hiding place.

A wide range of internal and external parasites has been documented for the hyrax . External ones are in the form of ticks , including the genera Amblysomma , Haemaphysalis , Ixodes and Rhipicephalus . Furthermore, around two dozen different types of lice are known to parasitize on the hyrax. The verified genera include Dasyonyx , Procavicola , Procaviphilus and Prolinognathus . In addition, there are mites and fleas , such as Procaviopsylla in the latter . Some of the external parasites are also transmitted to pets. It is noticeable that females are more likely to be attacked by ectoparasites than males, which is particularly true in the warm season. This is explained by the greater social cohesion of the females and the resulting shorter transmission routes. In addition, females then also carry their offspring and generally show a poorer condition. Internal parasites include roundworms such as Crossophorus , Trichuris or Theileria and tapeworms such as Inermicapsifer . In the Serengeti, the local extinction of a colony through mange was observed, and infected animals also occurred on Mount Kenya. In addition, the hyrax is a carrier of leishmaniasis .

Systematics

Internal systematics of the recent hyrax according to Maswanganye et al. 2017   Procaviidae    Procavia      Heterohyrax      Dendrohyrax

The hyrax is a species from the genus Procavia , it is the only recent representative of the genus. Species and genus in turn form part of the family of hyrax (Procaviidae) within the order of hyracoidea of ​​the same name in German . Today the order comprises a total of three genres. In their phylogenetic past, especially in the Palaeogene and the early Neogene , the hyraxes were extremely rich in shape and included both small and giant animals. These occupied a wide variety of ecological niches and spread across large parts of Eurasia and Africa . Today hyraxes are limited to guinea pig-like forms, which are mainly found in Africa. Only the hyrax is the only form that is also documented in the Middle East. The rock hyrax is similar to the bush hyrax in its social lifestyle and daily activity . In addition to individual anatomical differences, there are also serological deviations between the two species, such as the mobility of the amylases . There are major differences to the tree slippers .

Most of the time, all rock hyraxes are grouped together to form one species with a large distribution area. Up to 17 subspecies are recognized within the species:

• P. c. bamendae brewer , 1913; Cameroon and Central African Republic
• P. c. capensis ( Pallas , 1766); South Africa , Lesotho and Swaziland
• P. c. capillosa brewer , 1917; southern Ethiopia
• P. c. Erlangeri Neumann , 1901; southern Somalia
• P. c. habessinica ( Hemprich & Ehrenberg , 1832); Egypt , northern Sudan , Israel , Saudi Arabia and Yemen
• P. c. jacksoni Thomas , 1900; southern Kenya
• P. c. jayakari Thomas , 1892; Oman
• P. c. johnstoni Thomas , 1894; southwestern Tanzania , Malawi , Mozambique and Zimbabwe
• P. c. kerstingi Matschie , 1899; Togo and Benin
• P. c. mackinderi Thomas , 1900; western Kenya
• P. c. matschiei Neumann , 1900; Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania
• P. c. pallida Thomas , 1891; northern Somalia
• P. c. ruficeps ( Hemprich & Ehrenberg , 1832); northern and western Africa
• P. c. scioana ( Giglioli , 1888); northern Ethiopia
• P. c. sharica Thomas & Wroughton , 1907; Chad
• P. c. syriaca ( Schreber , 1784); Syria , Lebanon , Jordan and Israel
• P. c. welwitschii ( Gray , 1868); southwestern Angola and Namibia

A total of 65 synonyms are listed for the hyrax . In 1932 described Henri Home de Balsac and Max BEGOUËN with Procavia (Heterohyrax) antineae a form from Algeria that you assigned to the yellow-spotted rock hyrax. Its position within the form was uncertain for a long time, in 2008 it was assigned to the hyrax and as a synonym for P. c. ruficeps considered.

The extent to which all of the listed subspecies actually exist is not clear. The rock hyrax shows strong morphological fluctuations over its range. As a result, significantly more independent species were recognized at the beginning of the 20th century. In an unpublished draft , August Brauer created a division of the genus Procavia into 38 species and 14 subspecies. Herbert Hahn thoroughly revised this system in his comprehensive revision of the hyrax in 1934 and reduced the number of species to four. Another type was added later, so that in the 1960s the structure was as follows:

• Procavia capensis ( Pallas , 1766); Kapscher hyrax; southern and southeastern Africa
• Procavia welwitschii ( JE Gray , 1868); southwest Africa
• Procavia johnstoni Thomas , 1894; Johnston's Hyrax; Central Africa
• Procavia ruficeps ( Hemprich & Ehrenberg , 1832); Sudan or Sahara hyrax; western and northwestern Africa
• Procavia habessinica ( Hemprich & Ehrenberg , 1832); Abyssinian hyrax; eastern and northern Africa, western Asia

In the 1970s, it was first proposed to combine all types of klipschliefers in one. The idea caught on in the early 1980s and is now widely accepted. Common to all Klippschliefer is a set of chromosomes with the formula 2n = 54. It is composed of 21 acrocentric, 2 submetacentric and 3 metacentric chromosome pairs. The X chromosome is the largest chromosome and has a submetzentric centromere , the Y chromosome represents a small acrocentric chromosome. Molecular genetic studies on South African animals show, however, that at least one southern and one northern clade can be distinguished there. There is little gene flow between these, but the separation from one another already occurred in the Miocene . The scientists assume that after more intensive DNA studies, the genus Procavia will probably have to be split up into several species again.

In addition to today's rock hyrax, several extinct species are known:

• Procavia pliocenica Pickford , 2005
• Procavia antiqua Broom , 1934
• Procavia transvaalensis Shaw , 1937

Two other forms, Procavia obermeyerae and Procavia robertsi , were also introduced by Robert Broom in 1937 and 1948, respectively. The former is now considered synonymous with Procavia transvaalensis , the latter as Procavia antiqua . Occasionally, Procavia antiqua is also considered to be identical to Procavia capensis . A form referred to as Procavia tertiaria comes from the Lower Miocene of Namibia and today belongs to Prohyrax , an older line of the hyrax.

Research history

Early mentions

In the Middle East and Africa, the hyrax had been known to the people for several thousand years. The Hebrews gave him the name šāfān or saphan ( שפן ), which means “the one who hides himself”. The saphan also found its way into the Old Testament , where it is mentioned four times. Thus Psalm 104 in the Book of Psalms describes him as an animal seeking refuge in the rocks. In the Sayings of Numbers , the Book of Proverbs describes the saphan as a powerless, weak animal, which nevertheless builds its homes in the rock due to its wisdom. Furthermore, it is stated in the book of Leviticus that the saphan ruminates, but has no cleft hooves, which is why he is to be regarded as unclean. The parallel passage in the book of Deuteronomy makes a similar statement . Early Bible translations interpreted the saphan differently. So some Greek versions interpreted the animal as a rabbit ( χοιρογρύλλιον ( choirogrýllion ), derived from χοιρογρύλλος ( choirogrýllos ) for "porcupine"), some Latin again as a hedgehog ( erinacius ). Notker Labeo from the St. Gallen Monastery saw the closest resemblance to the marmot around the year 1000. In his complete edition of the Bible from 1534, Martin Luther translated the Hebrew saphan as “rabbit”. It is assumed that the respective editors, including Luther, selected a generally familiar animal for the unknown saphane (accordingly the translation in the English edition of the Bible is coney , which also means "rabbit").

The frequent equation of the saphan with a rabbit was subsequently viewed critically. In his work Hierozoicon in 1663 , Samuel Bochart suspected that the saphan should be equated with the three- toed jumping mice or jerboas. However, the English cleric and traveler Thomas Shaw contradicted this in 1738. He reported in detail about Israel from the Levant at that time, a harmless animal the size of a rabbit, but darker in color, living in rock crevices . Shaw related the daman to the biblical saphan . In doing so, he referred to a work on Egyptian natural history by Prospero Alpini from the end of the 16th century, which was only published in 1735 and which speaks of small animals, which Alpinus called agnus filiorum Israel ("Lamb of the Children of Israel" ). Even Peter Simon Pallas dealt in 1778 in a treatise on rodents (glires) with the hyrax. As before with Shaw, in his opinion the saphan was the same as the hyrax . The same view was shared by James Bruce in 1790 , who encountered hyrax on his travels through what was then Abyssinia and thus first mentioned the bush hyrax. Bruce also noted the occurrence of similar animals in the Middle East in his descriptions, and he also claimed that the hyrax would ruminate, an opinion that (in addition to the Bible passage) was partly held up into the 20th century (the simpler stomach of the hyrax makes ruminating not too). Only a little later, Johann Christian von Schreber agreed in his work Die Säugthiere in pictures from nature with descriptions of the interpretation of the Klippschliefers as saphane . Today this is rarely rejected, in modern German Bible translations from 1912 the “rabbit” was therefore replaced by the “ rock badger ” (in English accordingly by badger ). "Klippdachs" is sometimes also considered inappropriate, as the name suggests other relationships.

Also in the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, the first reports of rock slippers from the South African region reached Europe. Travelers like Jodocus Hondius 1652 or Augustin de Beaulieu in 1664 raised several times the dassen or marmots out. Even Simon van der Stel , who since 1790 the first governor of the Dutch Cape Colony was noted in his diary on 14 September 1685 frequent occurrence of dassen on Heerenlogementsberg in the southwestern Cape. Peter Kolb, on the other hand, described "marmots" on his trip to Africa in 1719, which, in his opinion, the inhabitants incorrectly referred to as "badgers". Usually these mentions are associated with the hyrax. In today's Afrikaans , this is the general term for a hyrax . The name is derived from the Dutch word das , which means "badger". Similar to the descriptions of the animals from the Middle East and the various Bible translators, the authors of the reports from southern Africa tended to relate the creatures unknown to them to those from their homeland. At this point in time, there was also no comparison of the Near Eastern and South African animals.

Scientific naming

Peter Simon Pallas

Artist's impression of the Klippschliefers from the first description by Pallas in 1766

Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr

The first hyraxes were brought to Europe in the middle of the 18th century, and often they originally came from the Dutch colonies in southern Africa. In the 1760s, the then governor of the Cape Colony Ryk Tulbagh sent a female animal in alcohol to Wilhelm V , governor of the Netherlands. Another male found its way into the Blauw-Jan menagerie in Amsterdam, which later, in the 1770s, also housed living individuals. The first two copies mentioned were viewed by Arnout Vosmaer from The Hague and presented by him in a short essay in 1767 as the “bastard marmot”. Vosmaer had previously given one of the animals to Peter Simon Pallas, who was then on his journey through the Netherlands. Pallas then published the detailed first scientific description of the rock sleeper in his work Miscellanea zoologica in 1766 . In it he chose the name Cavia capensis and gave the Cape region as a type area. With the generic name Cavia Pallas referred the hyrax to the South American guinea pigs , he himself compared the hyrax in his Miscellanea zoologica with the agoutis and the capybaras . Above all, he placed them in the group of rodents at the time (which in the Linnaeus sense also included rhinos and bats). Pallas took over the name Cavia from Jacob Theodor Klein , who used the generic name for the South American guinea pigs as early as 1751. However, in 1776 , Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon rejected the reference to Cavia in the multi-volume work Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière, which he published and argued, among other things, with differences in geographical distribution and with the different way of life of the sleepy sleeper and the guinea pigs. It was primarily the African spread that led Gottlieb Conrad Christian Storr to introduce the name Procavia for the hyrax in 1780 . The Latin prefix pro- (“before” or “for”) made a direct reference to Cavia , since Storr also systematically saw the hyrax in the vicinity of the guinea pigs. Thus Storr also retained the classification in the rodents (which he led, however, under the name Rosores).

Procavia and Hyrax

Three years after Storr, Johann Hermann took a different opinion. In his Tabula affinitatum animalium he created the generic name Hyrax for the hyrax in consideration of a different tooth morphology . The name is of Greek origin ( ὕραξ hýrax ) and means something like "shrew". Until the end of the 19th century, the generic name Hyrax was used almost exclusively, while Procavia was mostly ignored. Hyrax was related to all representatives of the hyrax , it was not until 1868 that John Edward Gray introduced the names Heterohyrax for the bush hyrax and Dendrohyrax for the tree hyrax and thus subdivided the group more strongly. This also applies to the now no longer recognized genus Euhyrax , with which Gray occupied the forms from northeastern Africa. To distinguish it from Hyrax , he highlighted some deviating features of the skull, such as a rather continuous crest and a longer nasal bone. In 1886, Fernand Lataste pointed out that Storrs Procavia was three years older than Hermanns Hyrax . Oldfield Thomas continued this in 1892, thus confirming the priority of the older name as a generic name. Sometimes this was regretted and Hyrax was felt to be the more suitable name compared to Procavia , today both are considered unsuitable due to different relationships. Regardless of this, "Hyrax" has established itself as a common name for hyrax, especially in the English- speaking world .

Unclear family relationships

Skull of a klipschliefers, shown in the Histoire naturelle, générale et particulière of 1789 as “Loris de Bengale” (Bengal lorikeets)

Skull of a rock sleeper; Cuvier used this in 1804 to define the hyrax as representatives of the Pachydermata

Pallas and Storr saw the hyrax as a representative of the rodents . The exact position was disputed for a long time. Buffon's negative attitude towards Cavia capensis was also reproduced by August Wilhelm von Mellin in his work Der Klipdas around 1780 . In this Mellin presented the hyrax in detail in German. Félix Vicq d'Azyr moved the hyrax to the shrews in 1792 and justified this with the construction of the front set of teeth, especially the upper incisors. Even Christian Rudolph Wilhelm Wiedemann disagreed with a detailed description of a skull of the position of the hyrax within the rodents, but gave no exact alternative position. Of importance here is the skull of a Klippschliefers from Lebanon , which was in the Cabinet du roi of Paris, the later Muséum national d'histoire naturelle . The skull was presented in 1767 by Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton in a volume on live-bearing animals within Buffon's Histoire naturelle . Daubenton did not recognize the true nature of the skull, but his essay, which only contains a few lines, is relatively precise and expressly reproduces the anatomical features. Pallas referred Daubenton's skull to the hyrax in 1776. Despite this knowledge, a table in the seventh additional volume of the Histoire naturelle from 1789 identified him as a Bengali Plumplori (regardless of the description of the skull, the Histoire naturelle contains several additional notes on the hyrax: in the third additional volume from 1776 is the critical discussion already mentioned Buffons with Pallas' Cavia capensis , based on Vosmaer's "Bastard marmot", Buffon names the South African rock hyrax marmotte du Cap , in the sixth supplementary volume from 1782 there is a comparison of the South African rock hyrax as daman du Cap and the South African rock hyrax as daman Israel ). Fifteen years later, Georges Cuvier used the same skull to include the hyrax in his group of pachydermata ("pachyderms"). In the taxon that is no longer valid today, he grouped the genus Hyrax together with other ungulates such as rhinos , tapirs , elephants , hippos , real pigs and peccaries . Cuvier saw the hyrax as a mediator between rhinos and tapirs due to the structure of its teeth. The exclusion from the rodents and the reference to other ungulates had far-reaching consequences. Until well into the 20th century, the rock hyrax, together with the other hawks, was optionally assigned a close relationship with the odd -toed ungulates or with the paenungulata ("almost ungulates") for anatomical reasons . The conflict only resolved in the transition from the 20th to the 21st century with the introduction of biochemical and molecular genetic research methods in favor of the paenungulata.

Tribal history

Fossil, the ancestors of today's hyrax first appeared in the Miocene . The first record of the genus Procavia dates back to the Lower Pliocene around 5 million years ago. These are the remains of the species Procavia pliocenica , they were found at the Langebaanweg site in southwestern South Africa . The finds include numerous pieces of dentition and individual isolated teeth. They suggest an animal that was about 20% larger than today's rock hyrax. The lower jaw shares the relative robustness with that of the recent representatives of the Klippschliefers, but the molars are rather low-crowned. the formation of the first lower premolar, which is generally absent in today's South African populations, is a special feature. As a result, Procavia pliocenica looks much more original than today's rock hyrax .

In the Pliocene and in the transition to the Pleistocene , Procavia antiqua appeared , which reached about the size of today's Klippschliefers, but had a lighter skull and fewer high-crowned teeth. First described from the important site of Taung in central South Africa using a skull that has now disappeared, the species is also known from Sterkfontein in northeastern South Africa. Remnants of Procavia transvaalensis are present from simultaneous layers . The species was about one and a half times larger than today's rock hyrax and had a skull length of 125 mm. It is the largest representative of the genus. In terms of body dimensions , it only surpassed Gigantohyrax among all procavoid snakes . The first description was based on a lower jaw and a crushed skull from Sterkfontein. Further finds came from the nearby sites of Swartkrans and Kromdraai as well as from Makapansgat and Taung. Sterkfontein also hid some remains of the front legs. It is assumed that Procavia transvaalensis was more adapted to steppe-like landscapes.

Today's rock hyrax can be documented especially in the Pleistocene, for example from the Sibudu Cave in southeastern South Africa. The finds from the Blombos Cave in the Cape region of South Africa are exceptional . More than a quarter of the several thousand fossil finds dating back to the beginning of the last glacial period are made up of remains of the Klippschliefers, the majority of which are juveniles. Taphonomic research suggests capture by hunter-gatherer groups of early humans. The rock hyrax also appears in the same geological series in the Middle East. Finds from the early Middle Pleistocene by Gesher Benot Ya'aqov and in the transition to the New Pleistocene from the Rantis cave are documented, both of which are in Israel .

Threat and protection

There are no known major threats to the population of the klipschliefers. In some African countries the animals are hunted for their meat and fur , in Saudi Arabia they are also hunted for sporting purposes. There is also the opinion that the blood and meat of the Klippschliefers have a potency-increasing effect. In Yemen, poor families sometimes tame individual animals and sell them in local markets. This can sometimes have a major impact on local populations. In KwaZulu-Natal , the hyrax became extinct locally at the beginning of the 21st century, reintroductions have so far failed. Sometimes the hyrax was viewed as a pest, for example in the Cape provinces of South Africa. In Israel, where the species has few natural enemies, the animals sometimes cause considerable damage in cultivated areas. The IUCN classifies the entire population of Klippschliefers as “not endangered” ( least concern ) and does not expect any significant population decline. It occurs in numerous nature reserves. Above all, however, investigations into its actual distribution are necessary.

literature

• Angela Gaylard: Procavia capensis (Pallas, 1766) - Rock hyrax. In: John D. Skinner and Christian T. Chimimba (Eds.): The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 42-46.
• Hendrik Hoeck: Family Procaviidae (Hyraxes). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, pp. 28-47 (pp. 43-45) ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 .
• Hendrik N. Hoeck and Paulette Bloomer: Procavia capensis Rock Hyrax (Klipdassie). In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume I. Introductory Chapters and Afrotheria. Bloomsbury, London, 2013, pp. 166-171.
• Ronald M. Nowak: Walker's Mammals of the World . Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8018-5789-9 .
• Nancy Olds and Jeheskel Shoshani: Procavia capensis. Mammalian Species 171, 1982, pp. 1-7.

Videos

• Hendrik N. Hoeck: Heterohyrax brucei (Procaviidae) - the boys play with each other and with the young of Procavia johnstoni (outdoor recordings) . Film E-2473 of the Institute for Scientific Film, publication by HN Hoeck, publications on scientific films, Section Biology, Series 11, No. 29 / E 2473, 1978, booklet 8 pages.
• Hendrik N. Hoeck: Ethology of bush hyrax and rock hyrax . Film D-1338 of the Institute for Scientific Film, publication by HN Hoeck, publications on scientific films, Section Biology, Series 15, No. 31 / D 1338, 1982, accompanying booklet 24 pages.
• Hendrik N. Hoeck: Food ecology in bush hyrax and rock hyrax - sympathetic way of life . Film D-1371 of the Institute for Scientific Film, publication by HN Hoeck, Publications on Scientific Films, Section Biology, Series 15, No. 32 / D 1371, 1982.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v} Hendrik N. Hoeck and Paulette Bloomer: Procavia capensis Rock Hyrax (Klipdassie). In: Jonathan Kingdon, David Happold, Michael Hoffmann, Thomas Butynski, Meredith Happold and Jan Kalina (eds.): Mammals of Africa Volume I. Introductory Chapters and Afrotheria. Bloomsbury, London, 2013, pp. 166-171.
2. ^ ^{A b} J. du P. Bothma: Recent Hyracoidea (Mammalia) of Southern Africa. Annals of the Transvaal Museum 25, 1967, pp. 117-152.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Yoram Yom-Tov: Does the rock hyrax, Procavia capensis, conform with Bergmann's rule? Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 108, 1993, pp. 171-177.
4. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} Nancy Olds and Jeheskel Shoshani: Procavia capensis. Mammalian Species 171, 1982, pp. 1-7.
5. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Angela Gaylard: Procavia capensis (Pallas, 1766) - Rock hyrax. In: John D. Skinner and Christian T. Chimimba (Eds.): The Mammals of the Southern African Subregion. Cambridge University Press, 2005, pp. 42-46.
6. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v} Hendrik Hoeck: Family Procaviidae (Hyraxes). In: Don E. Wilson and Russell A. Mittermeier (eds.): Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Volume 2: Hooved Mammals. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona 2011, pp. 28-47 (pp. 43-45) ISBN 978-84-96553-77-4 .
7. ↑ ^{a b} Ngoni Chiweshe: Dassie census in the Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe. Afrotherian Conservation 1, 2002, pp. 6-7.
8. ^ RP Millar: An unusual light shielding structure in the eyes of the dassie (Procavia capensis Pallas) (Mammalia: Hyracoidea). Annals of the Transvaal Museum 28 (11), 1973, pp. 203-205.
9. ↑ George Lindsay Johnson: Contributions to the comparative anatomy of the mammalian eye, chiefly based on opthalmoscopic examination. Philosophical Transaction of the Royal Society (B) 194, 1901, pp. 1-82 ( archive.org ).
10. ^ ^{A b c} Hendrik Hoeck: Systematics of the Hyracoidea: toward a clarification. In: Duane A. Schlitter (Ed.): Ecology and taxonomy of African small mammals. Bulletin of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History 6, 1978, pp. 146-151.
11. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Herbert Hahn: The family of the Procaviidae. Journal for Mammalian Science 9, 1934, pp. 207-358 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
12. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Martin Pickford: Fossil hyraxes (Hyracoidea: Mammalia) from the Late Miocene and Plio-Pleistocene of Africa, and the phylogeny of the Procaviidae. Palaeontologia africana 41, 2005, pp. 141-161.
13. ↑ ^{a b} Michael Hoffmann, Hendrik N. Hoeck and Koenraad De Smet: Does the bush hyrax Heterohyrax brucei occur in North Africa? Afrotherian Conservation 6, 2008, pp. 6-8.
14. ↑ Noam Ben-Moshe and Takuya Iwamura: Shelter availability and human attitudes as drivers of rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) expansion along a rural-urban gradient. Ecology and Evolution 10, 2020, pp. 4044-4065, doi: 10.1002 / ece3.6174 .
15. ↑ ^{a b c d} Truman P. Young and Matthew R. Evans: Alpine vertebrates of Mount Kenya, with particular notes on the Rock hyrax. Journal of the East African Natural History Society and National Museum 82 (202), 1993, pp. 55-79.
16. ↑ ^{a b c} Gebremeskel Teklehaimanot and Mundanthra Balakrishnan: Distribution and Population Status of the Endemic Rock Hyrax Sub-species (Procavia capensis capillosa) of the Bale Mountains, Ethiopia. International Journal of Ecology and Environmental Sciences 44 (1), 2018, pp. 155–163.
17. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} HN Hoeck: Population dynamics, dispersal and genetic isolation in two species of hyrax (Heterohyrax brucei and Procavia johnstoni) on habitat islands in the Serengeti. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 59, 1982, pp. 177-210.
18. ↑ ^{a b} HN Hoeck: Demography and competition in hyrax: a 17 years study. Oecologia 79, 1989, pp. 353-360.
19. ↑ ^{a b} Ronald E. Barry and Peter J. Mundy: Population dynamics of two species of hyraxes in the Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Ecology 36, 1998, pp. 221-236.
20. ^ ^{A b} Ronald E. Barry and Peter J. Mundy: Seasonal variation in the degree of heterospecific association of two syntopic hyraxes (Heterohyrax brucei and Procavia capensis) exhibiting synchronous parturition. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 52, 2002, pp. 177-181.
21. ^ RE Barry, N. Chiweshe and PJ Mundy: Ten years of population data on two species of hyrax in the Matobo National Park, Zimbabwe. Afrotherian Conservation 2, 2003, pp. 8-9.
22. ^ Ngoni Chiweshe: An update on the annual dassie census in Matobo Hills, Zimbabwe. Afrotherian Conservation 3, 2005, pp. 7-8.
23. ↑ Ronald E. Barry, Ngoni Chiweshe and Peter J. Mundy: Fluctuations in bush and rock Hyrax (Hyracoidea: Procaviidae) Abundances Over a 13-Year Period in the Matopos, Zimbabwe. African Journal of Wildlife Research 45 (1), 2015, pp. 17-27.
24. ↑ ^{a b c d} MIM Turner and IM Watson: An introductory study on the ecology of hyrax (Dendrohyrax brucei and Procavia johnstoni). African Journal of Ecology 3 (1), 1965, pp. 49-60.
25. ^ ^{A b c d e} HN Hoeck, H. Klein and P. Hoeck: Flexible social organization in hyrax. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 59, 1982, pp. 265-298.
26. ↑ Adi Barocas, Amiyaal Ilany, Lee Koren, Michael Kam and Eli Geffen: Variance in Centrality within Rock Hyrax Social Networks Predicts Adult Longevity. PLoS ONE 6 (7), 2011, p. E22375, doi: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0022375 .
27. ↑ ^{a b c d e} LJ Fourie and MR Perrin: Social behavior and spatial relationship of the rock hyrax. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 17 (3), 1987, pp. 91-98.
28. ↑ Lee Koren, Ofer Mokady and Eli Geffen: Elevated testosterone levels and social ranks in female rock hyrax. Hormones and Behavior 49, 2006, pp. 470-477.
29. ^ G. Gerlach and HN Hoeck: Islands on the plains: metapopulation dynamics and female biased dispersal in hyraxes (Hyracoidea) in the Serengeti National Park. Molecular Ecology 10, 2001, pp. 2307-2317.
30. ↑ JB Sale: The habitat of the rock hyrax. Journal of the East African Natural History Society 25 (3), 1966, pp. 205-214.
31. ^ CR Taylor and JB Sale: Temperature regulation in the hyrax. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 31 (6), 1969, pp. 903-907.
32. ↑ ^{a b c} JB Sale: The Behavior of the Resting Rock Hyrax in Relation to its Environment. Zoologica Africana 5 (1), 1970, pp. 87-99.
33. ^ ^{A b} Elza Louw, GN Louw and CP Retief: Thermolability, Heat Tolerance and Renal Function In the Dassie or Hyrax, Procavia Capensis. Zoologica Africana 7 (2), 1972, pp. 451-469.
34. ↑ lan S. McNairn and Neil Fairall: Metabolic rate and body temperature of adult and juvenile hyrax (Procavia capensis). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part A: Physiology 79 (4), 1984, pp. 539-545.
35. ↑ Kelly J. Brown and Colleen T. Downs: Seasonal patterns in body temperature of free-living rock hyrax (Procavia capensis). Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology 143, 2006, pp. 42-49.
36. ↑ lan S. McNairn and Neil Fairall: Relationship between heart rate and metabolism in the hyrax (Procavia capensis) and guinea pig (Cavia porcellus). South African Journal of Zoology 14 (4), 1979, pp. 230-232.
37. ↑ Nadine Gravett, Adhil Bhagwandin, Oleg I. Lyamin, Jerome M. Siegel and Paul R. Manger: Sleep in the Rock Hyrax, Procavia capensis. Brain Behavior and Evolution 79, 2012, pp. 155-169.
38. ↑ Kelly J. Brown and Colleen T. Downs: Basking behavior in the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) during winter. African Zoology 42 (1), 2007, pp. 70-79.
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40. ↑ Andreas Olsen, Linda C. Prinsloo, Louis Scott and Anna K. Jäger: Hyraceum, the fossilized metabolic product of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis), shows GABA-benzodiazepine receptor affinity. South African Journal of Science 103, 2008, pp. 437-438.
41. ^ Petrus Bernardus Fourie: Acoustic communication in the rock hyrax, Procavia capensis. Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 44, 1977, pp. 194-219.
42. ↑ ^{a b c} JB Sale: Daily food consumption and mode of ingestion in the hyrax. Journal of the East African Natural History Society 25 (3), 1966, pp. 215-224.
43. ↑ Lee Koren, Ofer Mokady and Eli Geffen: Social status and cortisol levels in singing rock hyraxes. Hormones and Behavior 54, 2008, pp 212-216.
44. ↑ ^{a b} Vlad Demartsev, Amiyaal Ilany, Arik Kershenbaum, Yair Geva, Ori Margalit, Inbar Schnitzer, Adi Barocas, Einat Bar-Ziv, Lee Koren and Eli Geffen: The progression pattern of male hyrax songs and the role of climactic ending. Scientific Reports 7, 2017, p. 2794, doi: 10.1038 / s41598-017-03035-x .
45. ↑ Vlad Demartsev: Male rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis): Singing tactics and the dynamics of counter-singing events. Afrotherian Conservation 14, 2018, pp. 10-14.
46. ↑ Vlad Demartsev, Arik Kershenbaum, Amiyaal Ilany, Yishai Weissman, Lee Koren and Eli Geffen: Lifetime changes in vocal syntactic complexity of rock hyrax males are determined by social class. Animal Behavior 153, 2019, pp. 151–158, doi: 10.1016 / j.anbehav.2019.05.011 .
47. ↑ Arik Kershenbaum, Amiyaal Ilany, Leon Blaustein and Eli Geffen: Syntactic structure and geographical dialects in the songs of male rock hyraxes. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 279, 2012, pp. 2974-2981.
48. ↑ Lee Koren and Eli Geffen: Complex call in male rock hyrax (Procavia capensis): a multi-information distributing channel. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63, 2009, pp. 581-590.
49. ↑ Lee Koren and Eli Geffen: Individual identity is communicated through multiple pathways in male rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) songs. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 65, 2011, pp. 675-684.
50. ↑ Yishai A. Weissman, Vlad Demartsev, Amiyaal Ilany, Adi Barocas, Einat Bar-Ziv, Inbar Shnitzer, Eli Geffen and Lee Koren: Acoustic stability in hyrax snorts: vocal tightrope-walkers or wrathful verbal assailants? Behavioral Ecology 30 (1), 2019, pp. 223–230, doi: 10.1093 / beheco / ary141 .
51. ↑ Vlad Demartsev, Arik Kershenbaum, Amiyaal Ilany, Adi Barocas and Einat Bar Ziv: Male hyraxes increase song complexity and duration in the presence of alert individuals. Behavioral Ecology 25 (6), 2014, pp. 1451-1458.
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56. ↑ JB Sale: Hyrax feeding on a poisonous plant. African Journal of Ecology 3 (1), 1965, p. 127.
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72. ↑ Dalit Talmi-Frank, Charles L. Jaffe, Abedelmajeed Nasereddin, Alon Warburg, Roni King, Milena Svobodova, Ofer Peleg and Gad Baneth: Leishmania tropica in Rock Hyraxes (Procavia capensis) in a Focus of Human Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene 82 (5), 2010, pp. 814-818.
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74. ↑ Hans-Geog Scheil and Hendrik N. Hoeck: Electrophoretic investigations of the serum amylases (EC 3.2.1.1) of the Klippschliefers Procavia johnstoni matschie Neumann 1900 and the Bush sleeper Heterohyrax brucei deneri (Vic. Niansae) Brauer 1917 - Hyracoidea: Mammalia. Zoologischer Anzeiger 215, 1985, pp. 129-132.
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90. ↑ Lev 11,5, Dtn 14,7, Spr 30,26, Ps 104,18.
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95. ↑ James Bruce: Travels to discover the source of the Nile: in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773. Vol. VI Dublin, 1790, pp. 1–286 (pp. 171–180) ( biodiversitylibrary .org ); German: Journeys to discover the sources of the Nile in the years 1768. 1769. 1770. 1771 and 1772. Volume V. Leipzig, 1791, pp. 1–384 (pp. 145–152) (digital.bibliothek.uni -halle. de ).
96. ↑ Johann Christian Daniel Schreber: The mammals in illustrations according to nature with descriptions. Fourth part. Erlangen, 1792, pp. 923-926 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ) and panel volume 1 panel 240 ( biodiversitylibrary.org ).
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100. ↑ Arnout Vosmaer: Beschrijving van eene zeer vreemde en geheel nieuwe soort van africaansch basterd-mormeldier, zich onthoudende op de steen- of klipbergen van de Kaap de Goede Hoop. Amsterdam, 1767, pp. 1-8 ( docplayer.nl ).
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127. ↑ Kirsten Wimberger, Colleen T. Downs and Mike R. Perrin: Two unsuccessful reintroduction attempts of rock hyraxes (Procavia capensis) into a reserve in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research 39 (2), 2009, pp. 192-201.
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Web links

Commons : Hyrax  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Procavia capensis in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2015 Posted by: T. Butynski, H. Hoeck, L. Koren & YA de Jong, 2014. Accessed January 24, 2018th
• Information about the hyrax genome at Ensembl
• Hyrax vocalizations calls of the hyrax , recorded as part of the Eastern Africa Primate Diversity and Conservation Program, last accessed on December 15, 2017