THE HYRAX 09-1209 GACHUHO MARY WANJIRU

Hyraxes have stumpy toes with hoof like nails, four toes on each front foot and three on each back foot. The longer claw like nails on the inside toes of the back feet are used for grooming and scratching. The bottoms of the feet have a rubbery texture to assist in climbing steep rock surfaces and trees. It is said to be the elephant's nearest living relative. It looks like a robust, oversized guinea pig, or a rabbit with rounded ears and no tail. Rock hyraxes are very noisy and sociable. Adults make use of at least 21 different vocal signals. The most familiar signal is a high trill, and is given in response to perceived danger. Rock hyrax calls are referred to as “songs.” Hyrax songs can provide important biological information such as size, age social status, body weight, condition, and hormonal state of the singer, as determined by measuring their song length, patterns, complexity, and frequency. The rock hyrax spends approximately 95% of its time resting. This animal is found in Daystars University Athi-river campus.