This week’s louse is a departure from last week’s Mallophaga specimen. Found on a Procavia capensis (Hydracoidea:Procaviidae) (Storr 1780) host, today’s mystery louse was collected in De Hoop, South Africa on January 25, 1964.
![Microscopic image of a mystery Anoplura specimen found on a rock hyrax.](https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3805/18898584776_5d99f213b7.jpg)
The Procavia capensis host, commonly known as the rock hyrax is a very interesting mammal. Its habitat range encompasses much of Africa, from hot savannas to much cooler mountainous regions, as well as the Arabian Peninsula and Middle East. According to the American Society of Mammalogists, there are around 40 subspecies of rock hyrax, while its genus has only one species, capensis (Olds & Shoshani 1982).
![Photo of a rock hyrax bearing its teeth.](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5228/5578533726_3807ac6e66.jpg)
Resembling rodents, their closest living relatives are actually elephants. The fossil record has indicated that there were once rock hyraxes the size of oxen, which would be pretty terrifying if you base that idea on the above photo (Asher et al 2003).
![Photograph of several rock hyraxes lounging in the sun on a rock.](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7174/6437297097_b50934aede.jpg)
If you have any guesses as to what this week’s mystery louse could be, please comment!
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