Sunday 12 February 2012

The Hyrax - The Elephant's Cousin

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The hyrax may look like a guinea pig to the casual observer but looks can be very deceptive. It has even been called the rock rabbit but its family tree is much stranger than you might expect. Its nearest living relatives are the elephant and, bizarrely, the sea cow.

DNA evidence supports this hypothesis, 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.

(thanks Robert-John)

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