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Skull Ontogeny of the Hyraxes Procavia capensis and Dendrohyrax arboreus (Procaviidae: Hyracoidea)

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Abstract

Extant hyraxes are small, rabbit-sized, herbivorous paenungulates, with a notable feeding mechanism: they crop with the molars instead of the incisors, unlike most modern hoofed mammals. We investigated the postnatal development of the skull, and their functional correlates, in two extant representative forms of hyraxes, the terrestrial grazer Procavia capensis and the arboreal browser Dendrohyrax arboreus. We measured 18 linear variables representing fundamental descriptive and functional aspects of the skull, and estimated allometric equations on the basis of bivariate and multivariate analyses of an ontogenetic series of 32 specimens of P. capensis and 27 specimens of D. arboreus. Results showed that the ontogenetic trajectories of both species are similar in overall shape and size, but differ in localized regions of the skull associated with the masticatory apparatus. Examples include both differences in degree of allometry (upper postcanine row more positively allometric in Procavia) as well as opposing trends (positive allometry of diastema length in Dendrohyrax versus negative allometry in Procavia). In the mandible, the height of mandible and the length of the lower postcanine row showed significant differences. These changes could be associated with the acquisition of contrasting herbivorous specialization along the browsing-grazing gradient as exemplified in hyraxes.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Bruce Patterson and Bill Stanley (FMNH; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, USA), Eileen Westwig (AMNH; American Museum of Natural History, New York, USA), and Darrin P. Lunde (USNM; National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA). Visits to mammal collections were partially support by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) to SRM. This is a Contribution to the projects PICT-2015-2389, and CDD-CB 650/14 to GHC from the Universidad Nacional de Luján (UNLu).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ecorregiones Andinas (INECOA), CONICET, Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, Av. Bolivia 1711 (4600), San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina

    S. Rocío Moyano

  2. Centro de Estudios Territoriales Ambientales y Sociales (CETAS), Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias, Universidad Nacional de Jujuy, Alberdi 47 (4600), San Salvador de Jujuy, Jujuy, Argentina

    S. Rocío Moyano

  3. División Mastozoología, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales “Bernardino Rivadavia”, Av. Ángel Gallardo 470, C1405DJR, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Guillermo H. Cassini

  4. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Nacional de Luján, Ruta 5 y Av. Constitución s/n, Luján, 6700, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Guillermo H. Cassini

  5. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Guillermo H. Cassini

  6. Unidad Ejecutora Lillo, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Miguel Lillo 251 (4000), Tucumán, Argentina

    Norberto P. Giannini

  7. American Museum of Natural History, Department of Mammalogy, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY, 10024-5192, USA

    Norberto P. Giannini

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Moyano, S.R., Cassini, G.H. & Giannini, N.P. Skull Ontogeny of the Hyraxes Procavia capensis and Dendrohyrax arboreus (Procaviidae: Hyracoidea). J Mammal Evol 26, 317–331 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10914-017-9424-7

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