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Beecroft's tree hyrax - DENDROHYRAX DORSALIS
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Hyrax": "Hyrax" comes from the Greek "hurax," meaning shrew mouse.
Location: West and Central Africa.
Habitat: Arboreal. Tropical forest.
Description: The fur is short but dense, and the nose is hairless. On the back there is a yellowish patch of fur surrounding the dorsal gland. The soles of the feet are black and have numerous ridges for gripping tree branches. The front feet have 4 toes, but the hind feet have only three. Their body length is 17 to 24 in, with a short tail adding about 1/2 to 1 1/4 in. They weigh about 4 to 10 lbs.
Behavior: This hyrax is a herbivorous and arboreal animal, which spends the daytime in tree hollows. It leaves the trees during the night to forage. It is normally a solitary animal, but small groups of two or three individuals are not unusual. The main predators of this hyrax are leopards, genets, pythons, and birds of prey, but it is also hunted by man for food and for its dense pelts.
Reproduction: Gestation lasts for about eight months, with the young born in March and April in Gabon and the Cameroons, and in May through August in Zaire. In most cases just one young is born, although two may appear on rare occassions.
Note: The hyraxes have molar teeth that look like miniature rhinoceros teeth, with large, persistently-growing, upper incisors, and hooplike nails on most toes, as well as many other anatomical details that are distinctive. Immunological data suggest that these hyraxes are most closely related to aardvarks, elephants, and the sirenians.
Go to the Hyracoidea Page to learn more about these unique animals.
Go to the Rock Hyrax for the only other Hyracoid listed in America Zoo.
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