Travel to Eat
Cape Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis capensis). Boulders Beach, South Africa
I saw this interesting little creature in the bushes on the side of the Willis path to the beach. The Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis), also called Cape Hyrax, Rock Rabbit, and (in the Bible) Coney, is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the Dassie (Afrikaans: klipdassie), it is one of the five living species of the order Hyracoidea, and the only one in the genus Procavia. Rock hyraxes weigh between 9–11 pounds (4–5 kg) and have short ears and tail. Prominent in and apparently unique to hyraxes is the dorsal gland (just behind the eyes), which excretes an odor used for social communication and territorial marking. Along with other hyrax species and the sirenians, this species is the most closely related to the elephant. The rock hyrax has a prominent pair of long, pointed tusk-like upper incisors which are reminiscent of the elephant, to which the hyrax is distantly related. The rock hyrax occurs across sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of the Congo Basin and Madagascar. The distribution encompasses southern Algeria, Libya, Egypt and the Middle East, with populations in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and the Arabian Peninsula. The shade of their pelt varies individually and regionally. In particular the dorsal gland patches (present in both sexes) of the central populations are very variable, ranging from yellow to black, or flecked. There are 5 subspecies, differing in the dorsal gland patches, black in P. c. capensis, cream in P. c. welwitschii, and orange in P. c. ruficeps.
Cape Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis capensis). Boulders Beach, South Africa
I saw this interesting little creature in the bushes on the side of the Willis path to the beach. The Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis), also called Cape Hyrax, Rock Rabbit, and (in the Bible) Coney, is a medium-sized mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the Dassie (Afrikaans: klipdassie), it is one of the five living species of the order Hyracoidea, and the only one in the genus Procavia. Rock hyraxes weigh between 9–11 pounds (4–5 kg) and have short ears and tail. Prominent in and apparently unique to hyraxes is the dorsal gland (just behind the eyes), which excretes an odor used for social communication and territorial marking. Along with other hyrax species and the sirenians, this species is the most closely related to the elephant. The rock hyrax has a prominent pair of long, pointed tusk-like upper incisors which are reminiscent of the elephant, to which the hyrax is distantly related. The rock hyrax occurs across sub-Saharan Africa, with the exception of the Congo Basin and Madagascar. The distribution encompasses southern Algeria, Libya, Egypt and the Middle East, with populations in Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon and the Arabian Peninsula. The shade of their pelt varies individually and regionally. In particular the dorsal gland patches (present in both sexes) of the central populations are very variable, ranging from yellow to black, or flecked. There are 5 subspecies, differing in the dorsal gland patches, black in P. c. capensis, cream in P. c. welwitschii, and orange in P. c. ruficeps.