Answer:
Although elephants and hyraxes at first don't seem to have many similarities, a closer look has led many scientists to believe that these animals are evolutionarily closely related.
Elephants and Hyraxes share many reproductive characteristics that indicate a common ancestor: The location of the testicules in these animals diverges from most mammalian species, remaining inside the retroperitoneal abdomen. Females have similar placental origins and long gestation periods and the location of the mammary glands in both orders (above the front legs) is a unique feature among non-primate mammals. Hyraxes' tusks develop from incisor teeth, similar to elephants, and in both cases nails develop into flattened, hoof-like structures.
Molecular evidence has also been used to confirm the hypothesis of evolutionary relatedness between the two orders, as similarities in some gene sequences in mitochondrial DNA and other molecular components. Both animals have some physiological similarities and cognitive characteristics (such as the presence of a powerful long-term memory) that support the possibility of evolutionary proximity.
The fossil record indicates that in the Eocene period hyraxes were dominant herbivores in Africa, with several species, reaching much larger sizes than today and occupying different ecological niches, indicating that elephants and hyraxes may have been very similar millions of years ago.
