Many Mediterranean civilizations and peoples have passed through the Iberian Peninsula, one of the most coveted places throughout history.: Celts, Iberians, Greeks, Romans, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Muslims… All of them have left their mark on the diverse culture and society that we enjoy today, not to mention the rich gastronomy or the originality of the language.
The Romans, the people from which many of the languages currently spoken in more than half of Europe (Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, etc.) were derived, passed through Spain for more than seven centuries. The name of our nation derives from the one they gave it more than two millennia ago, ‘Hispania’, and there are various theories who have tried to decipher its meaning.
One of the best known, although there is a great debate around it, is the one that suggests that the term ‘Hispania’ was taken by the Romans from Phoenician people, who had already baptized the Iberian Peninsula as ‘I-span-ya’, which would mean something like ‘land of rabbits’According to this hypothesis, the Phoenicians would have been surprised by the supernumerary quantity of these mammals that they found upon their arrival, and they named our land after them.
However, this name ‘i-span-ya’ does not refer to ‘land of rabbits’, but to the land of ‘hyraxes’, another hairy mammal that bears some resemblance to the rodent, and is very common in some African places from where the Phoenicians arrived. Although today it has almost disappeared in the Iberian Peninsula, this curious animal still exists in our country.
What is the ‘rock hyrax’ that gave Hispania its name?
This mammal is quite similar in appearance to a marmot or a giant guinea pig, although it actually belongs to the ‘Procaviidae’ family.Curiously, they are even more closely related to elephants. Although they have traditionally been confused with rabbits or hares, they are not part of the rodents; they are a species with very different habits.
Like humans, it is a plantigrade, meaning it supports the entire sole of the foot when walking. The entire bottom of the foot is covered with spongy pads, which work like the ‘cat feet’ of professional climbers.helping them to grab onto rocks and climb with surprising ease. They normally live on cliffs and rocky terrain, and often take refuge in old burrows abandoned by other animals.
They have large, pointed ears, and the tail is almost non-existent in them.They live in groups of up to 80 individuals, as they use numerical superiority to protect themselves. They are completely vegetarian, feeding on herbs, shrubs and fruits.although they can also eat tree bark or small berries. They live between 11 and 13 years, and reproduce very quickly, in litters of between one and six animals at a time.
In English they are known as ‘hyrax’, and their name comes from a substance that some of these species of hyrax are capable of producing, and which has been highly prized throughout history. It is called hyraceum, a pasty mixture of feces and urine produced by these animals in large quantities. It has been traditionally used to treat epilepsy, but also in perfumery.In addition, the pollen that is easily trapped in these excrements provides very useful information to paleontological botanists.
As reported by ValenciaPlaza, In 2023, a litter of three small rock hyraxes were born in captivity at the Bioparc in ValenciaThe babies were born after the reproduction in captivity of an adult male and female who had been under the care of the facility for several years. This curious species, which mistakenly gave its name to Spain, can be visited at the Bioparc.