the Baumschliefer includes 3 types, that among other things differ on the basis of its preferred habitats, as most original group of the Schliefer: 1. Regenwald-Baumschliefer (Dendrohyrax dorsalis), 2. Bergwald-Baumschliefer (Dendrohyrax validus) and 3. Steppenwald-Baumschliefer (Dendrohyrax arboreus).
Regenwald-Baumschliefer (Dendrohyrax dorsalis)) With the Regenwald-Baumschliefer, the most original Schlieferart introduces itself at all to us. its rough fur is dark until black, occasionally also occurs light until white forms however. Is the hair standing around the back-gland knows and much longer than this of the remaining fur. The nose-mirror is bare. This extremely tree-living in Schlieferart lives on Liberia in Africa's tropical rain-forest until Zaire and Uganda. By its dark fur-coloring and its nightly way of life, the animals were hardly observed in the wild until now. Our meager knowledge is therefore based on communications from natives and at zoo-observations for the most part.
Way of life The Regenwald-Baumschliefer lead a hidden one and einzelgängerisches lives. they don't live in colonies with many animals like the Klippschliefer but don't position nests in tree-caves, high over the ground. Despite its clumsy physique and its short extremities, they move nimbly in the branch-work of the jungle-giants. Partially they climb in the type of the chimney sweeps by anchoring themselves with the claws in the bark of a tree and bracing themselves against another, densely beside it-standing tree with the back. From branch to branch hangeln it, in that they solid-claw its rear-paws in a branch, itself then with the body lets hang, about itself finally to a lower branch hinunterzuschwingen.
Shouting However, the most characteristic of the Regenwald-Baumschliefer is its shouting, that is to be heard only about the males, however, and belongs to the typical tones of the African night. A scream consists of a series of reputations, constantly swelling single, long prolonged and in the volume. Such a reputation-row on the other hand is composed from up to 130 individual reputations, that are knocked out over 5 for minutes. It is begun with quiet, plaintive Drr-drr-Lauten and is finished in shrill Kreischtönen. This Lautgebung serves less of the partner-search as rather the acoustic precinct-restriction.
Precinct-marking This acoustic precinct-marking is supported with help of excrement and urine by a distinctive marking-behavior. The excrement-brands always are put down at the same places. When marking, the males with the whole stomach slide over the surface to be marked and give some drops to urine with its to the back directional penis.
Reproduction Only to the combination, the Regenwald-Baumschliefer give up its singles-life at short notice. After probably 7-8 months of Tragzeit, the females bring usually only a young to the world, that weighs only 300-350 g in the birth. The boys are very contact-needy and are suckled for months approximately 3. With 17 months, the boys become sexually mature. Regenwald-Baumschliefer become over 3 years old in captivity.
Food The foliage of the big jungle-trees serves them as food.
Endangering Through Bejagung, above all however through the annihilation of the rain-forests is Regenwald-Baumschliefer endangered today.
Bergwald-Baumschliefer (Dendrohyrax validus)) The Bergwald-Baumschliefer possess a very much softer and denser fur and a hairy nose opposite the Regenwald-Baumschliefern. Also, the back-gland of sallow hair is stood around. As the name already indicates, they populate Africa's mountain-forest-regions, by name about the Kilimandscharo and the Usambara-Berge. There, where the forest vanished as consequence of the cultivation, they adapted themselves to the life to topmost extent on rocky underground.
Steppenwald-Baumschliefer (Dendrohyrax arboreus)) The Steppenwald-Baumschliefer draw through its especially dense and fine hair from and in many forms through densely hairy ears and a hairy nose. they have yourself the best at the life outside from forests adjusted, although actually also it in the coasts, and Mischwäldern in south, and East-Africa at home is.
In its way of life, anything distinguishes the mountain-forest and Steppenwald-Baumschliefer for itself from the Regenwald-Baumschliefern. The habitat transfers with them more from the trees to the ground, where even some of them, lives like the Klippschliefern, in large colonies between boulders and in lava-masses. That the harmony also is not so quite untarnished with them, however, the loud nightly Zänkereien indicate, that clearly differ from the Lautgebungen of the Regenwald-Baumschliefer. Also here, the males should be the loud-giving animals mainly.
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