Idea #542 – Meeting Damans of Rocks in the Namib Desert
Daman of the Cape (Procavia capensis) also conscript Daman of rocks is a species of mammal which looks like a marmot or a big guinea pig. It is called dassie in South Africa and pimbi in Swahili. Of the size of a hare, it possesses a pair of long incisors and molars which look like those rhinoceros. It possesses four fingers in the previous legs.
Daman rocks live in groups being able to matter up to 80 individuals. These groups are distributed in small subgroups of some families managed by a male adult. They spend most of their time to rest in big bands or to crack alone in the sun. This behavior serves probably to help them regulate their physical temperature, which varies with the ambient temperature.
Daman produces big quantities of hyraceum, a sticky mass, a mixture of excrements and urine, which was used on the traditional treatment of several diseases as the epilepsy and the convulsions and keeps being used on perfume shop. Other originality, Daman were considered for a long time most alive blood relatives of the elephants. It is true that their incisors call back the defenses of the elephants …
Some Pictures
Where is it ?
Namib Desert, Sossusvlei, Namibia
