The loud cries of tree hyrax, small herbivorous mammals, can be heard at night in the forests of Western
Arboreal gyraxes that live between the Volta and Niger rivers emit a barking sound that differs from the screams of the gyraxes found in other regions of the forest zone of Africa.
New research shows that screaming hyraxesare a separate species. A recently described species, Dendrohyrax interfluvialis, inhabits wet and dry forests located between two rivers in the coastal regions of southeastern Ghana, southern Togo and Benin, and southwestern Nigeria.
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Adult arboreal gyraxes usually weigh between 2.2 to3 kilograms, about the size of a groundhog. They are usually active at night and live in trees, but they are difficult to study - unlike most nocturnal mammals in Africa, their eyes do not glow at night, making them difficult to detect, the researchers explain.
“Sometimes a keen ear is just as important as a keen-sightedeye, the researchers noted. "All the evidence we subsequently examined, including the distinctive vocalizations, points to the existence of a unique species in the forests between Niger and Volta."
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