[1][2] On the east and south, the Misuku hills transition to a hilly plateau that slopes towards Lake Malawi.
Their closeness to southwestern Tanzania's concentration of montane forests and grasslands, and the hills' favorable climate soils, help account for the diversity.
The montane forest trees Cylicomorpha parviflora and Mitragyna rubrostipulata reach the southern range of their distribution in the Misuku Hills.
[1] The only occurrence in Malawi of the Silvered bat (Glauconycteris argentata), Lord Derby's scaly-tailed squirrel (Anomalurus derbianus), and the Tanzanian vlei rat (Otomys lacustris) is in the Misuku Hills.
The Black and red bush squirrel (Paraxerus lucifer) is found in the Misuku Hills, along with the Nyika Plateau to the south, and Mount Rungwe and Poroto Mountains to the north in Tanzania.