THE 



FAUNA AND FLORA OF PALESTINE. 



•>o-*- 



MAMMALIA. 



ORDER, PACHYDERMATA. 



FAMILY, HYRACID.E. 

 I. Hyrax Syriacns. Hemp, and Ehr. Symb. Phys. Mamm. PI. 2. 

 Coney. Heb. 1S^. Arab, .^y^, Tubsiiu, or y.y^, cl JVabr (in Sinai). 



Plate I. 

 This singular little Mammal, neither ruminant nor rodent, but which 

 is placed by systematists among the Ungiilaia, near the Rhinoceros, is one 

 of the many peculiarly African forms which occur in Palestine. It is not 

 uncommon round the shores of the Dead Sea, but is rare in the rest of 

 the country, and not known in Lebanon. It is found throughout the 

 Sinaitic Peninsula generally, but is not known to extend further into 

 Arabia or Western Asia. It is represented by a very closely allied species 

 in Abyssinia, and by another rather larger at the Cape. Several species, 

 or varieties, occur in Eastern Africa, but this is the only one known 

 beyond the limits of that continent. Its Hebrew name means 'the 

 hider,' and its timid, cautious habits, and defenceless character are re- 

 ferred to in Scripture. The Syrian Coney is marked by a yellow dorsal 

 spot on its otherwise uniformly tawny fur. It is scarcely so large as a 

 full-o-rown Rabbit. Its teeth and toes resemble those of the Hippopota- 

 mus in miniature. It lives exclusively among the rocks in Wadys, not 

 generally burrowing, but utilizing fissures in the cliffs, where it has its 

 inaccessible home, coming forth to feed only at sunset and at dawn. 



I 



