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A tepui , or tepuy (), is a member of a family of table-top mountains or found in northern South America, especially in Venezuela, western Guyana, and northern Brazil. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran Sabana.
Tepuis tend to be found as isolated entities rather than in connected ranges, which makes them the host of a unique array of endemic plant and animal species. Notable tepuis include Auyantepui, Cerro Autana, Neblina massif, and Mount Roraima. They are typically composed of sheer blocks of Precambrian quartz arenite sandstone that rise abruptly from the jungle. Auyantepui is the source of Angel Falls, the world's tallest waterfall.
There are 115 such mesas in the Gran Sabana in the south-east of Venezuela on the border with Guyana and Brazil, where the highest concentration of tepuis is found. The precipitous tower over the surrounding area by up to .
Tepuis range in elevation from . The total surface area of all 115 tepuis is approximately .
Because of their great age, some tepuis exhibit surface features and caves typical of karst topography, formed in more water-soluble rocks such as limestone. Caves here include the Abismo Guy Collet, the deepest quartzite cave in the world. Some of the mesas are pocked with giant up to in diameter and with sheer walls up to deep. These sinkholes are formed when the roofs of tunnels carved by underground rivers collapse.
Berry, Huber, et al. (1995) sort the tepuis into four districts defined by geographical criteria (drainage basins) and floristic affinities.McDiarmid, Roy W. and Donnelly, Maureen A. 2005. "The herpetofauna of the Guayana Highlands: amphibians and reptiles of the Lost World" In Ecology and evolution in the tropics: a herpetological perspective. Donnelly, Maureen A., Crother, Brian I., Guyer, Craig, Wake, Marvalee H., and White, Mary E., editors. 461–560. University of Chicago Press.
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The tepuis are often referred to as the Galápagos Islands of the mainland, having a large number of unique plants and animals not found anywhere else in the world. The floors of the mesas are poor in nutrients, which has led to a rich variety of carnivorous plants, such as Drosera and most species of Heliamphora, as well as a wide variety of Orchidaceae and Bromeliaceae. The weathered, craggy nature of the rocky ground means no layers of humus are formed.
It has been hypothesized that endemics on tepuis represent relict fauna and flora that underwent vicariant speciation when the plateau became fragmented over geological time. However, recent studies suggest that tepuis are not as isolated as originally believed. For example, an endemic group of treefrogs, Tepuihyla, have diverged after the tepuis were formed; that is, speciation followed colonization from the lowlands.
The tepuis, also known as 'islands above the rainforest', are a challenge for researchers, as they are home to a high number of new species that have yet to be described. Some of these mountains are cloaked by thick clouds for nearly the entire year. Their surfaces could previously only be photographed by helicopter radar equipment.
Major botanical explorations of the tepuis started in the 19th century, including those of Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland and Robert Schomburgk. From the 1950s onwards Julian Steyermark and Bassett Maguire started the Guayana Shield Program to document the entire flora of the Venezuelan tepuis and surrounding lowlands, and undertook numerous expeditions. This program produced the Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana, a multi-volume work published between 1995 and 2005. It treated 2447 species of vascular plants native to the Pantepui biogeographic province, 42% of which are endemic to the tepuis with up to 25% of species restricted to single mountains. Five botanical expeditions were undertaken to three Brazilian tepuis – Serra do Aracá, Pico da Neblina, and Monte Caburaí – from 2011 to 2014.
Many tepuis are in the Canaima National Park in Venezuela, which has been classified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
In the 1990 film Arachnophobia, a new species of spider with a highly potent, deadly venom that lives in social colonies and is the implied apex predator of its environment is discovered in a sinkhole enclosed by a tepui in the Venezuelan rainforest, also alluding to the unique ecological conditions of tepuis.
Much of the story of 2009 Pixar–Disney film Up takes place among the tepuis. The film also includes depictions of the numerous rock formations and an Angel Falls-like waterfall called "Paradise Falls".
Steve Backshall was part of the first expedition to successfully climb Mount Upuigma. "Conquering a virgin", The Times, 11 November 2007 The expedition was part of the program Lost Land of the Jaguar on BBC One in 2008. On the summit they discovered an endemic species of frog and mouse, and also footprints of an unidentified mammal.
In the novel The 6th Extinction (2014)
The sinkholes Sima Martel and Sima Humboldt located on Sarisariñama, were mentioned in the viral marketing for the film Godzilla (2014 film). Entering the name of either sinkhole into the marketing website would produce the readout "twin signatures detected". Due to the sinkholes being discovered in 1961, the readout is assumed to be a joke referring to Mothra (1961 film).
Selected tepuis
A few of the most notable of the 60 tepuis:
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Popular culture
The hypothesis that endemic fauna and flora of tepuis represent remnants of ancient species was an inspiration to Arthur Conan Doyle's novel The Lost World (1912), which was set on a tepui.
(2014). 9780062336989, HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062336989 by James Rollins, a tepui in the north of Brazil was featured as a secret lair for the villain Dr. Cutter Elwes.
See also
External links
Categories: Erosion Landforms, Mesas, Tables, Oronyms, Natural History Of South America, Flora Of Northern South America, Ecoregions Of South America, Ecoregions Of Brazil, Ecoregions Of Guyana, Ecoregions Of Suriname, Ecoregions Of Venezuela, Neotropical Tropical And Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests, Montane Forests
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