Daman: the secret of an inconspicuous animal (7 photos)

At first glance, it may seem that this is an ordinary mouse-like animal that is simply living its typical and boring animal life, but this will be the case until you find out that the hyrax is a close relative of the elephant. How did this happen? Let's figure it out!





They seem to be up to something, keep your eyes on them!

Let's start with the fact that people initially did not understand what kind of animal this was. They were first discovered by the Phoenicians, who looked and looked at this fluffy splendor and nicknamed the animal “shafan,” which in their language translates as “the one who hides.” Apparently they simply could not determine what the hyrax looked like and only noticed that the gray furballs were constantly trying to hide from them.



When you are looking for a place to hide from the Phoenicians.

The Arabs also encountered hyraxes, and they also could not understand what it was. The funny thing is that the word “hyrax” itself is of Arabic origin and is translated as “ram”. What can I say - lamb is respected in Arab countries, I hope that in ancient times no one dared to try the taste of hyraxes.





Well, for example, “beeeee.”

It's even more fun with an English name. In this language it sounds like hyrax, and the word itself comes from the Greek language, where it is generally translated as “shrew”.



The shrew and hyrax look almost the same (no).

Problems with the name of the animal can be considered as someone’s jokes, or extreme disinterest in studying something that looks like a cross between a mouse and a rabbit, but the main trump card of the hyrax, namely its relationship with elephants, is worth talking about separately.

Yes, we are not kidding, this fluff ball, which weighs up to a maximum of 4 kg with a body length of up to 60 cm, is really a relative of the elephant, which you yourself know is much larger. But the relationship here is quite confusing.



Although the relationship is distant, there are similarities with an elephant. Look at this smile, these are not fangs, but tusks, because... they develop from the incisors.

In ancient times, the hyrax had common ancestors with both sirenians (manatees, dugongs) and proboscideans (Indian and African elephants). If you have already been upset that the hyrax is like a relative to the elephant, but like the seventh water on jelly, then we hasten to please you - they have more similarities than it might seem at first, for example, they have the same location of the mammary glands (on the chest and in the armpits ), a sensitive sense of smell and hearing, as well as the ability to surprisingly accurately detect soil vibrations with the pads on their paws. And his fingers end not in claws, like any other small animal, but in flat nails, just like those of elephants.



Can anyone tell fortunes using this palm? Will the baby be okay? When will he get married and how many children will he have?

This unusual shape of the legs, coupled with their sweating, helps the hyrax to literally “suck” to stone ledges and excellently climb rocks, of which there are simply plenty in its habitat – South and East Africa.



The whole family got together and relaxed.

Animals often bask in the African sun. They like to gather in groups of up to 60 individuals, which especially helps them at night when the sun no longer shines. The fact is that the hyrax cannot boast of a good thermoregulation system, so the animals simply warm themselves from each other.

These downy muzzles feed mainly on plant foods, but sometimes they are not averse to throwing in some protein, such as larvae or insects.

As for numbers and survival, hyraxes are doing well here; they cause the least concern among biologists and are very well adapted to life in their region; they literally have no equal in running and climbing rocks.