dassie
- noun
- South African
:
dassie
- Rock Hyrax or Dassie (Procavia capensis)
- dassie or hyrax
- rock hyrax
- tree hyrax
Examples
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Tree Hyrax or Dassie (Dendrohyrax arboreus)
Academic text (2003) -
I laugh when I learn that the dassie's closest living relatives are modern-day elephants.
Blog text (29) -
A cute dassie staring right.
Blog text (29) -
Like the Rock Hyrax or Dassie, the Tree Hyrax or Dassie always seems to defecate and urinate in the same spot, keeping their habitat clean.
Academic text (2003) -
Like the Rock Hyrax or Dassie, the Tree Hyrax or Dassie always seems to defecate and urinate in the same spot, keeping their habitat clean.
Academic text (2003) -
The two species of hyrax commonly found in East Africa are: Rock Hyrax or Dassie (Procavia capensis).
Academic text (2003) -
This strategy finds a related, more explicit form in Rose-Innes's later novel Green Lion, where each chapter title is an organism (e.g., "Dassie," "Quagga," "Stegosaurus").
Academic text (2018) -
The photograph of the Tree Hyrax illustrated in the article has all the markings of the Yellow-Spotted Hyrax or Dassie, with conspicuous white patches above the eyes, but the habitat determined the species.
Academic text (2003) -
On the 3 km-long plateau, we even spot an outrageously cute dassie (a myrax that resembles a guinea pig) scuttering across grey rocks.
Blog text (29) -
The dassie is often seen basking in the sun on rocky outcrops in Africa.
Synonyms
1
9.9
A small plant-eating mammal that lives on rocks in Africa and Asia
A small mammal that eats plants and has hoof-like toes found in Africa and Asia
A small rock-dwelling animal in Africa that looks like a rodent but is related to hoofed animals
A small animal that eats plants and lives on rocks in Africa and the Middle East
Surface Forms
Etymology
The word dassie comes from Afrikaans and Dutch: it combines Dutch das meaning 'badger' with the small ending -ie meaning 'little', so it originally meant a 'little badger'. That's why people called the small animal that lives on rocks, the hyrax, a dassie, because it looked like a little badger even though it is actually related to elephants.