Untitled

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18514, 27 March 1922, Page 6

There arrived at the Zoological Park recently a little animal of an interest far greater than its small dimensions and insignificant appearance might lead one to suppose, observes a correspondent. Supcrlicially it looks very like a common wild rabbit; its colour and size are both much on a par with those of the rabbit, and thougti its cars are short and rounded its general suggestion of the rodent type is sufficient to excuse the confusion of those of past generations who termed it “the coney of the rocks.” This suggestion is perhaps most largely due to the fact that there are in front of the upper jaw two long teeth which greatly resemble the cutting teeth of the rodent, and like the latter they continue to grow through life, and are kept at a useful length by wear; and though they are not ohiscl-shaped as in the rodent, but are somewhat triangular in section and sharply pointed their function is the same, and they show an adaptation parallel with that of the rodent teeth. The teeth in the lower jaw, how ever, have not achieved a similar adaptation,, and do not grow through life as the rollout's do; they show much more resemblance to the teeth of the group to which the hyrax is related. When one looks at the foot of the hyrax one finds that the toes, instead of having sharp qlaxvs like a rabbit’s, are armed with broad hooflike nails, except for the inside too on the hind foot. which has a long curved claw; the toes, in fact, arc much like a miniature of those of a rhinoceros or an elephant, and give the only external clue to the relationships of the animal, for the hyrax belongs to the group ofungulates or hoofed mammals. It is one of the humble people of the world, and in the long ago when its brothers were competing in a "race of specialisation, the horse and the deer staking existence on strength of limb and speed, the cattle acquiring horns and a herding instinct for defence, ami the elephant investing his hopes of Finnix d in bulk, the hyrax seems to have betm tumble to make up his mind whetlmr m be a rhinoceros or a rat. He has dwindled in size, and leads the more or iess furtive life of the rodent, and has survived j isi because he is so inoffensive and inconspicuous. There are about a coup l ' of dozen species of hyrax, and the snccimen in the Park is the Cape hyrax. Most of them live a ground life, sheltering in holes or among loose rocks, but a lew species load an arboreal life, and so are the only ungulates which climb treat