Cerro Duida, known as Yennamadi by the Ye'kuana,[2] is a very large tepui in Amazonas state, Venezuela.[1] It has an uneven and heavily inclined plateau, rising from highs of around 1,300–1,400 metres (4,300–4,600 ft) in the north and east to a maximum of 2,358 metres (7,736 ft) on its southwestern rim.[1] It has a summit area of 1,089 km2 (420 sq mi) and an estimated slope area of 715 km2 (276 sq mi).[1] At its foot lies the small settlement of La Esmeralda, from which the mountain can be climbed.[3]
Cerro Duida shares a common base with the much smaller (but taller) Cerro Marahuaca, located off its northeastern flank, and together they form the Duida–Marahuaca Massif.[1] Both tepuis are entirely within the bounds of Duida-Marahuaca National Park. Sandwiched between them, a massive ridge known as Cerro Petaca rises to at least 2,700 metres (8,900 ft). The much lower Cerro Huachamacari, derived from a separate base, lies to the northwest of this complex.[1]
Tyler-Duida expedition
George Henry Hamilton Tate led a major expedition of the American Museum of Natural History to Cerro Duida in 1928–1929.[3][4] Named the Tyler-Duida Expedition, it was the first to reach the mountain's summit plateau and the first to climb a tepui of the Venezuelan Amazon.[5]Mount Duida frog was first collected during the expedition and is still not known from anywhere else, although it was formally described only 40 years later.[6][7] Although primarily a zoological expedition, much plant material was collected.[4] These herbarium collections were studied extensively by Henry Gleason, who formally described many of the mountain's plant species in a series of papers published in 1931.[8][9][10][11] This was followed by a number of important botanical explorations of Cerro Duida, first by Julian A. Steyermark in 1944 and later by Bassett Maguire in 1949 and 1950.[4][5]
^Frost, Darrel R. (2015). "Dischidodactylus duidensis (Rivero, 1968)". Amphibian Species of the World: an Online Reference. Version 6.0. American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 29 August 2015.
^Gleason, H.A. (May 1931). Botanical results of the Tyler-Duida Expedition. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club58(5): 277–344. JSTOR2997213
^Gleason, H.A. (June 1931). Botanical results of the Tyler-Duida Expedition. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club58(6): 345–404. JSTOR2480734
^Gleason, H.A. (October 1931). Botanical results of the Tyler-Duida Expedition. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club58(7): 405–464. JSTOR2480424
^Gleason, H.A. (November 1931). Botanical results of the Tyler-Duida Expedition. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club58(8): 465–506. JSTOR2480621
Further reading
Chapman, F.M. (July 1931). Problems of the Roraima-Duida region as presented by the bird life. Geographical Review21(3): 363–372. JSTOR209426
1 List sourced from volume 1 of Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana; includes landforms that may not strictly conform to the definition of a tepui or table mountain. 2 Poorly known sites or lower mountains treated as tepuis for historical reasons.
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