📸 PhotoPhoto: Charles J. Sharp · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Southern Tree Hyrax
Dendrohyrax arboreus (Southern Tree Hyrax · ミナミキノボリハイラックス)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 Its average weight of 2.27 kg is slightly heavier than a 2 kg bag of rice (Comparison).
- 💡 Its dried, crystallized droppings were used by Europeans and South African tribes as medicine for conditions such as epilepsy, and it is also hunted for food, with its liver considered a delicacy. Its fur is soft.
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
Site-computed relative index from recorded values; not a formal scientific metric.
📖 1. Overview
The Southern Tree Hyrax is a small arboreal herbivore of African forests that resembles a marmot or a guinea pig.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Long, soft grayish-brown fur covers its body with a paler belly. Its ears have white hair fringes, a dorsal gland ringed by creamy hair stands out in the middle of its back, and it has no visible external tail.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
It lives in dens inside tree hollows or branch crevices and spends most of its time alone. A selective leaf-eater, it also eats twigs, shoots, fruits, and seeds; in South Africa, nearly 150 plant species were identified in its droppings.
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2015) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/6409/21282806
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • mammaldiversity.org — 1000524
- • iucnredlist.org — 21282806
- • wikidata.org — Q608652
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Tree-hyrax.jpg
- • animaldiversity.org — Dendrohyrax arboreus
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Steven Traver · CC0 1.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Dendrohyrax)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.