The rock hyrax, better known as a “dassie” in southern Africa, is a furry, bushy creature with short legs and no discernible tail. They spend much of their time sunbathing on rocks.
Another thing they sometimes do is drag their butts along the ground. Dog owners know that this behavior can be a sign of a parasitic infection. In the case of hyraxes, this action leaves a characteristic trace in the sand, although the reason for this seems less clear.
The African Coastal Paleoscience Center studies traces and footprints (ancient fossilized remains) through the Cape South Coast Ichthyology Project. Over the past few decades, we have discovered around 400 400,000-year-old vertebrate footprints on this coast in the Pleistocene dunes known as aeolianites. This era lasted from about 2.58 million years ago to about 11,700 years ago.
you may like
We are uncovering and clarifying the environment and how animals and plants lived at that time.
Among our latest discoveries are two fossilized tracks that appear to have been made by rock hyraxes in the distant past. One is a railroad track and the other is a butt track with fossilized feces in it.
The suspected truck site was brought to our attention by avid tracker Mike Fabricius from a location near Walker Bay on the south coast of the Cape. It is approximately 76,000 years old. We found probable butt drag evidence east of Still Bay on the same coast. This is probably about 126,000 years old.
The bat drag impression is the first fossil of its kind to be described in the world. Additionally, these are the only possible fossil hyrax footprints ever identified. In the world of paleontology, all such rarities are important, and we feel privileged to be able to interpret them.
Interpretation of drag marks
Dating at our site is done by a technique known as photostimulated luminescence, which works by analyzing when material, such as sand, was last exposed to light.
Bat drag impression is 95cm [37.4 inches] length 13cm [5.1 inches] wide. Contains 5 parallel stripes. The outer edge is slightly raised and has a 2 cm high projection inside it. [0.8 inch] Raised shape, 10 cm x 9 cm [4 by 3.5 inches]. If the surface consisted of loose sand, obviously something dragged it.
I thought about other causes besides the Hilux butt. These included leopards and human ancestors dragging their prey, or even elephants dragging their trunks. But, firstly, they are expected to leave traces, and secondly, such an interpretation does not explain the raised features.
you may like
But if it had been a Hilux, it would make sense since the footprints of its butt would have followed its footprints and erased them. And the raised features could be coprolites, fused and fossilized chunks of hyrax droppings.
old manure
Rock hyraxes leave behind more than just footprints and butt tracks. Because they prefer rocky areas, their footprints are not often seen, but they polish the rock surface to make it shiny. This is similar to how North American prairie buffaloes make “buffalo rub stones.”
Hyrax also leave behind deposits of urine and feces. Urea and electrolytes are concentrated in the urine, and large amounts of calcium carbonate are excreted. This cements and forms extensive whitish deposits on the rock surface. Hyraxes have communal habits, so multiple generations often urinate in the same preferred spot.
Their urine and feces often mix to form a substance known as hyraceum. Hyraceum is a rock-like mass that forms large areas of black, tar-like deposits. Hyraceum has been used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases, including epilepsy, and for gynecological purposes.
Hyraceum can be tens of thousands of years old and can be considered a threatened non-renewable resource. Sensitive to environmental change and containing fossil pollen and other evidence of ancient life, mounds form a valuable natural archive for interpreting past climate, vegetation, and ecology.
Considering Hyraceum as a trace fossil is clearly not something that has been done before, but it could help protect this undervalued resource.
Fossilized urine is rare worldwide, but to distinguish it from “coprolites” (fossilized poop), there is a word to describe it: “urolites.” Hyrax appears to make up the majority of the world’s urolites. At paleontology conferences, students can be seen wearing T-shirts that brazenly read “Mulcus Happens.” In southern Africa, the expression “urolites occur” might be more appropriate.
By understanding the importance of tail scars, urolites, coprolites, and hyraceum, and learning about the environments of Pleistocene hyraxes and other animals, we will never see these adorable creatures in the same light again.
This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Source link
