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Hyracoidea (hyraxes, dassies)
Life
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Eukaryotes >
Opisthokonta >
Metazoa (animals) > Bilateria > Deuterostomia >
Chordata > Craniata > Vertebrata (vertebrates) >
Gnathostomata (jawed vertebrates) > Teleostomi (teleost
fish) > Osteichthyes (bony fish) > Class:
Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish) > Stegocephalia
(terrestrial vertebrates) > Reptiliomorpha > Amniota >
Synapsida (mammal-like reptiles) > Therapsida > Theriodontia
> Cynodontia > Mammalia (mammals)
> Placentalia (placental mammals) >
Afrotheria > Paenungulata
Contains a single family, the Procaviidae.
Species indigenous to southern Africa
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Procavia capensis
(Rock hyrax, Dassie) Dassies are widely distributed in South
Africa, preferring rocky areas in mountain ranges and isolated
outcrops.
They become active after sunrise and usually bask in the sun for some time
before moving off to feed. After a lengthy pregnancy for a small
mammal the young are born fully haired with their eyes open and look like
perfect miniatures of the adult. Although dassies look like rodents their evolutionary
relationships are closest to the elephant and the dugong. |
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Heterohyrax brucei
(Yellow-spotted rock hyrax) |
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Dendrohyrax
arboreus (Tree hyrax) |
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