Adults sometimes weigh as much as 4.5 kg. The pelage consists of fine underhairs and coarser guard hairs. Scattered bristles, presumably tactile, are located mainly on the snout. A gland on the back is covered with hair of a different color from that on the rest of the body. The eye is unique in that a portion of the iris above the pupil bulges slightly into the aqueous humor, thus cutting off light from almost directly above the animal.
Hyraxes have a short snout, a cleft upper lip, short ears, and short, sturdy legs.
The vertebral column is convex from the neck to the tip of the tail. The forefoot has four digits, with flattened nails resembling hooves. The soles have special naked pads for traction that are kept continually moist by a glandular secretion. The single pair of upper incisors grows continuously and is long and curved. There is a wide space between the incisors and the cheek teeth.