Hyraxes Rock and the Babes Flock

Researchers observing the sex lives of the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) have learned what we all suspected to be true: the best musicians get the girl. According to the study published in the British Ecological Society's Journal of Animal Ecology, males that sing the most and with rhythm have the best reproductive success.

“We have been studying hyraxes for the past 20 years and have previously found several patterns in their songs that are common features of human language and music,” says lead author Vlad Demartsev.

“Their songs have regional dialects so individuals living in proximity sing more similarly to each other. They tend to sing in crescendo (getting louder as the song progresses) and reach peak complexity towards the end of their songs, maybe to keep the audience engaged and listening to the signals.”

The females seem to like it, because the best male crooners tend to have more surviving offspring. The little mammal, native to Africa and the Middle East, goes by many names: dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and in the King James Bible called a coney (per Leviticus, not kosher).

The observational study doesn’t really solve a chicken-and-egg question: Does a hyrax sing because he knows music is a babe magnet or does he sing because he is in good health, the quality that really attracts a discerning mate?

Photo credit: Amiyaal Ilany