Looking for the Next American Hyrax? Audience-Loving Animals Express Multiple Traits Through Their Songs

ScienceDaily (June 28, 2012) — If popular karaoke bars and the long audition lines for American Idol demonstrate anything, it's that people like to express themselves through song -- and the bigger the audience, the better. Now researchers at Tel Aviv University have found the same trait in small, rodent-like mammals called hyraxes, indigenous to Africa and the Middle East.

According to Prof. Eli Geffen and PhD candidate Amiyaal Ilany of TAU's Department of Zoology, hyrax vocalizations or "songs" go a long way towards communicating the singer's unique identity. Each one has unique songs that communicate a variety of information such as the singer's age, social rank, hormone levels, and size. And preliminary data suggests that the hyraxes prefer to sing when they have a more alert audience, taking the opportunity to promote themselves.

Understanding the function of the hyrax song will shed new light on animal communications, says Prof. Geffen, who notes that while birds are well known in the animal kingdom for singing, more complex vocalizations are rare in mammals. It's a model for learning how animals emit and receive signals, and what they understand from these communication channels, adds Ilany.

Continued: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120628145731.htm

Wail, Chuck, Snort: Rock Hyraxes Sing Complex Songs

Small mammals called hyraxes "sing" long and complex songs to announce their territory. New research shows these songs are never repeated and have regional dialects, because neighbors tend to steal each other's special vocal twists.

"We aren't claiming they have a language," study researcher Arik Kershenbaum, of the University of Haifa, in Israel, told LiveScience. "But they are showing some of the characteristics that are essential for true language."

The rock hyrax is a small, sturdy mammal that lives in Africa and the Middle East and, strangely enough, is a relative of the elephant. It eats plants and possibly bugs and lives in small groups, usually dominated by one male. This male has a tendency to stand up and shout — singing songs that are complex and can go on for "a number of minutes," Kershenbaum said.

The songs also seem to be a form of self-advertisement, kind of like birdsong.

Read on:  http://www.livescience.com/19743-rock-hyrax-song-dialect.html

Hyraxes: why Israel's 'rock rabbits' have become pests

Israel's hyraxes are cute, furry and have a characteristic chirping song. But they are becoming a serious pest.

The animals, also known as rock rabbits, have moved into residential areas of Galilee and have been destroying people's gardens.

Scientists have now discovered why: hyraxes love to make their homes in the debris from building sites.

Researchers from the University of Haifa published these findings in the journal Wildlife Research.

"A lot of people in the west haven't heard of the hyrax, but it's very common in the Middle East," lead researcher Arik Kershenbaum told BBC Nature.

"It's even mentioned in the Bible as one of the main inhabitants of the land."

But, as Mr Kershenbaum explained, around Galilee the animals are no longer behaving in a "biblical way" - making their homes in the rocky hills and cliffs of the countryside.

"They're coming into the villages and eating everything they can find," said Mr Kershenbaum.

To find out more about their behaviour, he and his colleagues observed the movements of groups of the animals. They also attached radio collars to a group of hyraxes in order to track and follow them.

"It turns out that it's the piles of boulders [created by clearing sites for building] that attract the hyraxes," said Mr Kershenbaum.

They make their homes in the underground caverns and crevices created by these man-made rubble piles.

Hyraxes like to lounge in the sun, but they also like to stay close to bolt holes, which makes these boulder piles perfect for them.

"We confirmed that they're attracted to the boulder piles rather than heading specifically for people's gardens," said Mr Kershenbaum.

There is also some public health concern about hyraxes living so close to populated areas, because they can carry the skin disease cutaneous leishmaniasis, which may be transmitted to humans.

Although hyraxes are generally quite popular with suburban wildlife-watchers, some people have called for a cull.

But early research indicates that simply filling in the boulder piles would drive hyraxes out of the villages and back to the cliffs, just as it says in the Bible.
By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC Nature
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14405051