Rock Hyrax

The rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) is a rabbit-sized, social mammal that lives among rocks in Africa and the Levant. Though it looks like a large guinea pig, its closest living relatives are elephants and manatees. It is listed as Least Concern.

🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Rock Hyrax in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Mammals lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.

Hyraxes have tusk-like upper incisors, toes with hoof-like nails and a distinctive ankle structure shared with elephants, and genetic studies place them in Paenungulata alongside elephants and sirenians. Fossil hyracoids were once diverse, including forms the size of a horse.

Colonies sunbathe in the morning to warm up because hyraxes regulate their body temperature poorly, then huddle together at night. Rubbery foot pads with moist glands help grip rock faces. One animal acts as a sentry and gives alarm calls when eagles or leopards appear.

Males produce complex vocal sequences that appear to follow rules of syntax, including repeated elements, and may convey information about condition and identity. In the Levant they are known as the "coney" of ancient texts.

• West Indian Manatee — another paenungulate
• Evolution — how shared ancestry is inferred