biology

Southern tree hyrax

Southern tree hyrax is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Southern tree hyrax rather than just read about it. In short: The southern tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax arboreus), also known as the southern tree dassie, is a species of mammal in the family Procaviidae. The southern tree hyrax is mainly found in the south central eastern side of Africa.

Key takeaways

Southern tree hyrax belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Southern tree hyrax to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Southern tree hyrax from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The southern tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax arboreus), also known as the southern tree dassie, is a species of mammal in the family Procaviidae. The southern tree hyrax is mainly found in the south central eastern side of Africa.

Description The southern tree hyrax has a guinea pig-like appearance. It has long, soft, grey-brown fur that covers the body, while the underside is paler. Hairs are lighter near their tips and the ears have a fringe of white hair. They weigh about 2.27 kg (5.0 lb) on average, and have an average length of 52 cm (20 in).

Distribution and habitat It is found in Angola, Zambia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, and South Africa. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical moist montane forests, moist savanna, and rocky areas. It may be found at elevations up to 4,500 m (14,800 ft).

Behaviour The tree hyrax lives in trees and is mostly nocturnal, as opposed to the rock hyrax which lives among rocks and is mainly diurnal. It occurs singly, in pairs or in small groups, favouring hollow trees and dense foliage. Tree hyrax are extremely able climbers with remarkable balancing skills, they do walk on the ground, but will often 'bounce' along rapidly then stop and then move rapidly again to get to the next piece of cover. Its extraordinary call, heard mainly at night, is a series of blood-curdling shrieks building up to a crescendo. These territorial calls are produced mainly by the males.

Ecology Martial and tawny eagles, leopards, lions, jackals, spotted hyenas, and even snakes prey upon the southern tree hyrax. In Rwanda, the most common predators are feral dogs. The limited amount of time the hyrax spends on the ground at night may be a predator avoidance strategy. Humans sometimes also eat the hyrax. The eastern tree hyrax (Dendrohyrax validus) was given ecological classification Near Threatened (NT) in 2015.

Diet The southern tree hyrax is a herbivore. It consumes many different parts of the plants such as the leaves, petioles, twigs, shoots, fleshy fruit, and hard seeds. Individual species are too many to list, but include Hagenia abyssinica, Hypericum revolutum, and Podocarpus falcatus.

Reproduction Milner and Harris reported that they were unable to determine the mating system but speculated that it may be facultative monogamy/polygyny. After a gestation period of 7 months, 1–2 young are born. At birth they are well developed and they weigh 170–200 grams (6.0–7.1 oz). In rescue conditions they can put on around 4% weight gain per day on a cows milk formula, however some youngsters do not thrive on this formula. Very young hyraxes have poor coordination. At an estimated age of under one week they cannot follow their mothers along a branch, but their mobility skills develop rapidly. Within two weeks they will use a midden. They will eat a diverse range of leaves, shoots, bark, fruit, and flowers. Youngsters appear to learn what leaves to eat by both watching and tasting what the adult is chewing. At about five months their fur develops darker spots often around guard hairs. The southern tree hyrax reaches maturity at about 12 months old.

Taxonomy As of 2018, the most recent treatment of the genus Dendrohyrax retains D. validus as a full species.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Southern tree hyrax

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Southern tree hyrax claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Southern tree hyrax before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Southern tree hyrax ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Southern tree hyrax

In research: Southern tree hyrax appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Southern tree hyrax in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Southern tree hyrax is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Arboreal mammals, Hyraxes, IUCN Red List least concern species, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Southern tree hyrax outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Southern tree hyrax in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Southern tree hyrax means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Southern tree hyrax out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Southern tree hyrax in simple terms?

Why does Southern tree hyrax matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Southern tree hyrax?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Southern tree hyrax.