Talk:Hyrax

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[edit] Realtives?

I've read that the Hyrax is the closest living relative of the elephant. Can anyone confirm or deny? --Dante Alighieri 08:16, 25 Oct 2003 (UTC)

A BBC documentary of 2000 - "Hyrax, Little Brother of the Elephant" - narrated by David Attenborough - is airing currently on the cable station "Animal Planet". There are several behavioural and morphological similarities between hyraxes and elephants. At latest report, there are even microscopic similarities in the blood. The title of the documentary refers to an ancient African myth. --yoyo 12:50, 8 December 2005 (UTC) 13:51, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Hyraxes are probably related to elephants, but aren't sirenians (dugongs and manatees) much closer relatives of elephants?--Jyril 18:51, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

My understanding is that the jury is still out on that one. The elephant connection with sirenia is only one hypothesis. I'm no expert though. This article is about a 50-million yr old sirenian and doesn't mention elephants at all. The Singing Badger 19:01, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

Compare the Spanish version of this page with the English. In English, there are "about 11" named species, whilst in Spanish there are only 4 species whose names have not been fixed.  :-) What gives? --yoyo 12:50, 8 December 2005 (UTC) 13:55, 24 Apr 2004 (UTC)

It used to be thought that there were eleven species, but the latest thinking is that there are actually only four, with the others being sub-species. Anaxial (talk) 18:05, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it's true. (For now at least). Sirenians and aardvarks are also elephant cousins, but most sources I've seen say hyraxes are the closest living relatives of the elephant.211.72.233.3 09:34, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Given the urban legend/myth/misconception/whatever of elephants being afraid of mice, I've always found it ironic that a small rodent-like animal is the closest living relative of the elephant. The_Irrelevant_One 09:55, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Yes; they aren't very close relatives of the elephant, but they are closer than anything else left alive today.

Lol, true for now. Remember that Futurama episode where they spoofed the dubious ancestry with that conquered alien spider race that was reported to be 'more closely related to our elephants than our spiders!'

It's not even a rodent! Plus elephants aren't afraid of mice at all. Dora Nichov 14:05, 2 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Rock Badgers?

I've heard Hyraxs refered to as rock badgers but I can't find any hard facts on this? Can anyone confirm so it can be added to the page? It'd be good to clarify one way or the other.

I seem to recall 'rock badgers' in the Bible.... The Singing Badger 18:53, 15 October 2005 (UTC)

Added a period 6-23-06

[edit] "more closely related to X than to each other"?

From the article: "Elephants (Proboscidea) and hyraxes (Hyracoidae) are both more closely related to manatees and dugongs (Sirenia) than they are to one another."

This doesn't seem logically possible, unless elephants and hyraxes were descended from sirenians,

                        elephants
                    --<
                   /    sirenians
common ancestor --<                 ???
                   \    sirenians
                    --<
                        hyraxes

which can't be right. Glycerinester 05:29, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

I think there is a problem with the tree diagram above. It suggests that sirenians evolved indpendently from two diffent branches. --ManInStone 12:30, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

hence 'this can't be right'

I own a copy of the book from which the quote is taken. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find the quote in my copy to put it in context, and the user does not provide a page reference. What the book does have is a cladogram (p.252), taken from the Asher paper (which I have cited), which looks like this:

                     hyraxes
                    /
common ancestor --<
                    \   sirenians
                     --<
                         \   embrithopods
                          --<
                             elephants

The text on that page talks about 'strong' evidence that the three really do form a single clade, but does not elaborate further on relationships within that clade. It may well, of course, do so elsewhere, that I have just been unable to locate. Anaxial (talk) 23:03, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

Ah ha! I have dug back through the diffs, and at one point, the page reference was provided, but was subsequently deleted. Having checked the pages in question, I can confirm that the words do not appear anywhere in the book, and appear to be a paraphrase of something the original editor has misunderstood. I am therefore deleting them. Anaxial (talk) 00:00, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Common Name"

What are the common names for these creatures. Are these the same as "Dassies", "Rock Rates", etc? ManInStone

'Hyrax' is the common name for the animals. However, 'dassie' is an alternative name for Rock Hyraxes (genus Procavia) specifically. Anaxial (talk) 18:03, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Bias slander?

The following statement is on the end of the historical paragraph: "related to the elephant...you faggots....fuck bush and republicans can suck bush up". As much as I think Bush is not doing a adequate job as the President of the United States of America. This stament is unjustified content --John M. Hager 14:53, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] common name

I have no knowledge of Hyrax. A crossword puzzle clue of "Cony" had the answer "DAS". It might be worthwhile to add "Das" to the list of common names. 71.245.235.43 17:34, 25 July 2007 (UTC)Chuck Bradley

[edit] Source of Nutrition:

The hyrax is a close relative of the falafel, the delicious sandwhich filling enjoyed by jews and vegans all across the world