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other hand they differ from most Ungulates in the incisors growing from persistent pulps, a point in which they resemble the Rodentia. The muffle also is split as in those animals. The Hyracoidea are peculiar in the fact that in addition to the caecum at the junction of the small and large intestines, there are a pair of caeca (bird-like in being paired) some way down the large intestine. The dorsal vertebrae are unusually numerous, 22. The adult dentition according to Woodward,[1] who has recently examined the matter, is I 1/2 C (1/0) Pm 4/4 M 3/3, while the milk dentition is I 3/2 C 1/1 Pm 4/4.

Fig. 120.—Cape Hyrax. Hyrax capensis. × ⅛.

The inclusion of the canine of the permanent set of teeth in brackets signifies that it is the milk canine which occasionally persists. It should further be remarked about the teeth that they are both hypselodont and brachyodont, the extremes being connected by intermediate forms. Another peculiarity of the genus is the dorsal gland, which is covered with hair of a different colour to that covering the body generally. This is present in all species.

The genus Hyrax (the most recent authority on the subject, Mr. Oldfield Thomas,[2] only allows one genus) is limited in its range to Ethiopian Africa and to Arabia, including Palestine, It does not reach Madagascar. Mr. Thomas allows fourteen species with two or three sub-species.

  1. M. F. Woodward "On the Milk Dentition of Procavia (Hyrax) capensis, etc," Proc. Zool. Soc. 1892, p. 38.
  2. "On the Species of the Hyracoidea," Proc. Zool. Soc. 1892, p. 50.