daman
イワダヌキ
解説 Definition
小型の長毛動物。アフリカの高地に生息するウサギのような生き物。
A daman is a small, thick-furred herbivorous mammal, also called a hyrax, that typically lives among rocks in Africa or the Middle East. Despite its rodent-like or rabbit-like appearance, it belongs to a group evolutionarily related to elephants.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
daman は岩場に暮らす小型哺乳類「ハイラックス」の別名として覚える。見た目はウサギや大型のネズミに似るが、分類上はゾウに比較的近い。rock daman、live in rocky terrain、feed on vegetation という組み合わせで、生息地・食性・意外な近縁関係を一緒に結び付けるとよい。
Picture a small, furry animal sitting on a sun-warmed African rock. That is the typical setting for a daman, or hyrax. Connect the word with the phrases rock daman, rocky terrain, and feed on vegetation. Its appearance can be misleading: it resembles a rabbit or large rodent, but its evolutionary relatives include elephants. Remembering this contrast—small body and rocky home, yet an unexpected connection to elephants—helps fix both the animal and its most notable biological fact in memory.
例文
The daman is related to elephants despite its small size.
ダマンはその小さなサイズにもかかわらずゾウに関連している。
Damans live in rocky terrain and feed on vegetation.
ダマンは岩場に住み、植物を食べる。
The daman's unusual family connections surprised evolutionary biologists.
ダマンの珍しい家族の繋がりは進化生物学者を驚かせた。
daman の類義語・関連語
daman の語源・成り立ち Etymology
アラビア語 ḍaman（羊に似た小動物）に由来し、岩場に住むイワダヌキ（ハイラックス）を指す。学名 Hyracoidea はギリシャ語 hyrax（トガリネズミ）から。見た目はネズミ的だが、実はゾウに近い親戚という意外な動物。
Daman entered European usage as a name for the hyrax through a word associated with Arabic ḍaman, referring to a small sheep-like animal. The scientific order name Hyracoidea is built from hyrax, a Greek word historically used of a shrewlike animal, plus the taxonomic suffix -oidea. These older labels reflect superficial appearance rather than the daman’s modern zoological classification or its evolutionary relationship to elephants.
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