| 释义 |
‖ hyrax Zool.|ˈhaɪəræks|
[mod.L., a. Gr. ὕραξ, ὕρακ- shrew-mouse.]
A genus of small rabbit-like quadrupeds, containing the daman, ‘cony’, or rock-rabbit of Syria, an Abyssinian species or sub-species, and the Cape Hyrax or rock-badger (klipdas) of South Africa.
The position of the Hyrax in zoological classification has been difficult to fix; it was formerly placed among Rodentia, subsequently among Pachydermata, and is now made the type of an order or sub-order Hyracoidea, which is sometimes associated with Perissodactyla (horse, hippopotamus, tapir) and Proboscidea (elephant) in an order Ungulata. The dentition combines characters of perissodactyls, esp. the rhinoceros, with some others belonging to rodents; and it is now generally regarded as the survivor of an ancient generalized type, to which ungulates, rodents, and insectivora are all related.
1832Proc. Sci. & Corresp. Comm. Zool. Soc. II. 207 This muscle..occasions the peculiar fulness of the neck in the Hyrax. 1834Nat. Philos. III. Phys. Geog. 55/2 (U.K.S.) The hyrax and the hog tribes do not extend into cold climates. 1891Daily News 1 Jan. 5/5 The hyrax or coney, which looks like an agouti, or some other rodent... Its nearest living relations are the rhinoceroses; and it must be looked upon as a dwarf rhinoceros with a dash of rodent in its composition, the result of this mixture being an animal which will not fit into any order, and therefore needs a special one all to itself. |