Ever met a Rock Hyrax? (Procavia capensis) Quiz

Answer: False

The rock hyrax resembles a guinea pig but is said to be an elephant's nearest living relative. This is a little misleading as the relationship stems from a remote ancestor common to hyraxes, sea cows and elephants.

Answer: True

In South Africa the rock hyrax is fairly widespread, and often at picnic spots and chalets, near rocky areas, you will find dassies lazing in the sun. They become fairly tame, allowing good photographs.

Answer: True

Because their metabolism is slow, the rock hyrax spends a great deal of time lying on the rocks in the sun. In the cool of the night they cuddle up for warmth. My little adoptee, who spent some time in a cage with a large chinchilla rabbit, used to sleep on top of the rabbit when warm, and underneath when cold.

Answer: False

The rock hyrax is a brownish grey, rabbit sized mammal. He has a dense coat and short ears and legs. He has a pointed head and a short tail. From a distance he resembles a guinea pig. He also has large front teeth, some sources speculate that this could be a relic from elephant tusks, somewhat shrunken though.

Answer: Vegetation

The rock hyrax does not chew the cud, but they do have multi division stomachs. This allows the bacteria to break down any tough plant material and to obtain the maximum nutrition out of the vegetation consumed. They can also supplement their grassy diet with the odd insect or grub but the are predominantly herbivores.

Answer: Single male dominated group, fiercely protected.

A male may dominate several groups of females, each group having their own range. The rest of the males live on the fringe, controlled by stronger or larger males, only mating with the younger females. Young females sometimes form "nursery groups".

Answer: True

The gestation period is seven to eight months. This is a comparatively long gestation period for an mammal of this size, but fossil remains of hyraxes were found where the animal was the size of an ox, so this would be more in keeping with the length of time.
The young are born with open eyes and within an hour can run and jump. They suckle for three months but start eating vegetation from the second day.

Answer: True

The feet also have four toes on the front feet and three on the rear. The back feet have a long clawlike nail which is used for grooming and scratching.
The feet have rubbery pads with numerous sweat glands which help them scamper up steep rock surfaces.

Answer: True

The rock hyrax has very efficient kidneys which can retain water. They urinate and defecate only in designated areas, making them "clean" animals! The urine is very concentrated and leaves white deposits on the rock. These deposits were believed by some indigenous tribes to have medicinal qualities.

Answer: False

Predators include leopards, large birds such as eagles, and snakes. A smaller predator is the mongoose. They give shrill cries to warn others of danger, and if cornered will bite in defense.