The Bewani Mountains form a

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

in northwestern

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. Together with the

Torricelli Mountains The Torricelli Mountains are a mountain range in Sandaun Province, north-western Papua New Guinea. The highest peak in the range is Mount Sulen at 1650 meters. The Bewani Mountains are located to the west, and the Prince Alexander Mountains are ...

and

Prince Alexander Mountains The Prince Alexander Mountains are a mountain range in Papua New Guinea. The range is located on the northern coast of New Guinea. The Torricelli Mountains lie to the west, and the basin of the Sepik River lies to the south. Mount Turu is a nota ...

it forms the North Coastal Range of Papua New Guinea.Birdlife International: North Papuan mountains
retrieved 11 August 2010 The highest point of the mountains is at 1,960 m. The

Bewani languages The Border or Upper Tami languages are an independent family of Papuan languages in Malcolm Ross's version of the Trans–New Guinea proposal. Unlike the neighboring Sepik languages and many other Papuan language families of northern New Guine ...

and various other

Papuan languages The Papuan languages are the non- Austronesian and non-Australian languages spoken on the western Pacific island of New Guinea in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, as well as neighbouring islands, by around 4 million people. It is a strictly geogra ...

are spoken in the region.

Geology

The Bewani-Torricelli-Prince Alexander Mountains, are presumed to have been formed as an island arc in the Late

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene' ...

-Early

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the epoch are well identified but the ...

Ecology

As with other mountain ranges in Papua New Guinea, the Bewani Mountains are home to many rare species of fauna and flora and is highly

biodiverse Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

. The

black sicklebill The black sicklebill (''Epimachus fastosus'') is a large member of the birds of paradise family, Paradisaeidae. This species is found throughout most of central New Guinea and the Vogelkop region to the northwest in montane forests at altitud ...

(''Epimachus fastuosus'') is a threatened species which is known from a few localities in the Bewani and Torricelli mountains. Fiwo, a subspecies of the

tenkile The tenkile (''Dendrolagus scottae''), also known as Scott's tree-kangaroo, is a species of tree-kangaroo in the family Macropodidae. It is endemic to a very small area of the Torricelli Mountains of Papua New Guinea. Flannery, Tim: ''Mammals of ...

(''Dendrolagus scottae'')

tree-kangaroo Tree-kangaroos are marsupials of the genus ''Dendrolagus'', adapted for arboreal locomotion. They inhabit the tropical rainforests of New Guinea and far northeastern Queensland, along with some of the islands in the region. All tree-kangaroos a ...

, is thought to be

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

to the Bewani Mountains. Two frog species described in 2000/2001, ''

Cophixalus bewaniensis ''Cophixalus bewaniensis'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Mount Menawa in the Bewani Mountains, West Sepik Province, mainland Papua New Guinea. The specific name refers to its type locality. Description The t ...

'' and ''

Choerophryne longirostris ''Choerophryne longirostris'' is a species of frog in the family Microhylidae. It is endemic to Mount Menawa in the Bewani Mountains of Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), o ...

'', are so far only known from the Bewani Mountains.

References

External links

* {{Mountain ranges of New Guinea Mountain ranges of Papua New Guinea Eocene Oceania Oligocene Oceania Paleogene Oceania

Geology

Ecology

See also

References

External links