What animal scales rocks in Africa and is related to elephants but weighs just a few pounds?

Question

Procavia capensis


Although their body size and front teeth make them look like rodents, hyraxes are in fact distantly related to elephants and manatees. The teeth are believed to be remnants of tusks.

Answer 1

, hyraxes is the animal you refer to.

Answer 2

Characteristics
Hyraxes are short-legged, well-furred, rotund creatures with a mere stump for a tail. They are about the size of a domestic cat; most measure between 30 and about 70 cm long and weigh between 2 and 5 kg. From a distance and with a little imagination, a hyrax could be mistaken for a very well-fed rabbit or guinea pig.


[edit] Historical accounts
Early Phoenician navigators mistook the rabbits of the Iberian Peninsula for hyraxes (Hebrew Shaphan); hence they named it I-Shapan-im, meaning "land of the hyraxes", which became the Latin word "Hispania", the root of Spain's modern Spanish name España and the English name Spain.

The word "rabbit" was used instead of "hyrax" many times in some earlier English Bible translations. European translators of those times had no knowledge of the hyrax (Hebrew שָּׁפָן Shaphan[1]), and therefore no name for them. There are references to hyraxes in the Old Testament[2] which seem to mistakenly identify hyraxes and rabbits as ruminating animals. This is possibly because they "appear to be so from working the jaws on the grasses they live on."

[3]).
Another possibility for their identification as an animal that chews its cud is that it eats its own feces, in order to extract any undigested nutrients.


[edit] Prehistoric hyraxes
All modern hyraxes are members of the family Procaviidae (the only living family within the Hyracoidea) and are found only in Africa and the Middle East. In the past, however, hyraxes were more diverse and widespread. The order first appears in the fossil record over 40 million years ago, and for many millions of years hyraxes were the primary terrestrial herbivore in Africa, just as odd-toed ungulates were in the Americas. There were many different species, the largest of them about the weight of a small horse, the smallest the size of a mouse.

During the Miocene, however, competition from the newly-developed bovids—very efficient grazers and browsers—pushed the hyraxes out of the prime territory and into marginal niches. Nevertheless, the order remained widespread, diverse and successful as late as the end of the Pliocene (about two million years ago) with representatives throughout most of Africa, Europe and Asia.

The large size of prehistoric hyraxes can help us to appreciate the remarkable fact that modern hyraxes may be the closest living relatives of the elephant. The descendants of the giant hyracoids evolved in different ways. Some became smaller, and gave rise to the modern hyrax family. Others appear to have taken to the water (perhaps like the modern capybara), and ultimately gave rise to the elephant family, and perhaps also the Sirenians (dugongs and manatees). DNA evidence supports this theory, and the small modern hyraxes share numerous features with elephants, such as toenails, excellent hearing, sensitive pads on their feet, small tusks, good memory, high brain functions compared to other similar mammals, and the shape of some of their bones. Early Hyraxes may also have given rise to the Glires clade (rodents and lagomorphs).[citation needed]


[edit] Hyraxes today

Tree Hyrax in the Serengeti, TanzaniaPresent-day hyraxes retain a number of early mammal characteristics; in particular they have poorly developed internal temperature regulation (which they deal with by huddling together for warmth, and by basking in the sun like reptiles). Unlike other browsing and grazing animals, they do not have well developed incisors at the front of the jaw for slicing off leaves and grass, and need to use the teeth at the side of the jaw instead. Unlike the even-toed ungulates and some of the macropods, hyraxes do not chew cud to help extract nutrients from coarse, low-grade leaves and grasses. They do, however, have complex, multi-chambered stomachs which allow symbiotic bacteria to break down tough plant materials, and their overall ability to digest fibre is similar to that of the ungulates.

Scientists have recently reduced the number of distinct species of hyrax recognized. While as recently as 1995 there were eleven or more recognized species, there are only four recognized today. The remaining species are regarded as subspecies of the remaining four. In fact, there are over 50 recognized species and subspecies, though many are considered highly endangered.[4]

ORDER HYRACOIDEA
Family Procaviidae
Genus Dendrohyrax
Southern Tree Hyrax, Dendrohyrax arboreus
Western Tree Hyrax, Dendrohyrax dorsalis
Genus Heterohyrax
Yellow-spotted Rock Hyrax, Heterohyrax brucei
Genus Procavia
Cape Hyrax, Procavia capensis

Answer 3

They are two types of hyraxes the rocky hyraxes and the tree hyraxes . Their genus specie is Procavia Capenis

Answer 4

dassies, otherwise known as rock hyraxes, funny tittle furry things, look a bit like guinea pigs. one jumped on my lap to pilfer my peanuts whilst i was in the serengetti, scared the life out of me. Cute tho....

BTW - Why are u asking the question if u already know the answer?

Answer 5

They are equal. However if you was to compare a pound of feathers to a pound of gold, they do not weigh the same. They use different weight scales.

Answer 6

It is indeed the hyrax.

Answer 7

Spiny anteater. Or have you answered your own question? I'm a bit lost here......

Answer 8

K...Did you just answer your own question? No fair!