The unusual, unique ichnology of the rock hyrax ( Procavia capensis ) and possible Pleistocene tracks and traces from South Africa

Neoichnological studies indicate that the rock hyrax (Procavia capensis), an Afrotherian mammal, registers a variety of unusual and unique traces. In addition to relatively distinctive tracks, these include buttock-drag traces, polished rock surfaces, dust-bathing hollows, droppings, and hyraceum, a cemented product of accumulated rock hyrax urine. Hyraceum mixes with faecal pellets to form rock hyrax middens, which may be tens of thousands of years old. Evidence of such traces can be sought in the palaeoichnological record, although no fossil rock hyrax traces have previously been reported. A possible rock hyrax trackway and a possible buttock-drag trace (perhaps the first of its kind in the global record) and putative coprolite have been identified in Pleistocene aeolianites on South Africa's Cape south coast. Alternatives explanations for these features are considered. Hyraceum, a form of urolite, is a unique ichnological phenomenon. While it has been well studied, its role as a unique type of trace fossil has not been appreciated. Rock hyrax traces thus form a unique component of the trace fossil record. The identification of these features will hopefully prompt a wider search for such traces across the African continent.