This interesting creature can seem like a animal which has the looks of many…
The hyrax (dassie) is the most interesting animal in the world. The hyrax looks like a cross between a rabbit and a guinea pig and looks as if it should be either a lagomorph or a rodent! Found in East and Southern Africa and the Middle East, it is neither. Its closest relatives are the mighty elephant and, amazingly, the manatee. It even grows tusks, like an elephant, that keep growing throughout its life, which is an average of 9-14 years, and its cheek teeth are like those of a rhinoceros.
The nails on its feet are less like nails than hooves, and there’s a gland on its back that secretes pheromones. When the babies are born, they climb on their mother’s back and lie on this gland, which helps them to imprint. As omnivorous animals, these hyraxes mainly consume herbs, grasses, fruit, and leaves, supplementing their diet with small lizards, insects, and eggs of birds, caught when sunbathing on local rocks. Like a horse, the hyrax can’t vomit, and like a cow, it has a multi-chambered stomach. It still can’t break down cellulose as well as a cow, and it is frankly cold-blooded. To warm up, the hyrax needs to bask in the sun like a reptile.
