Mount Hombori (Hombori Tondo) is a mountain in

Mali Mali (; ), officially the Republic of Mali,, , ff, 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞥆𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 𞤃𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭, Renndaandi Maali, italics=no, ar, جمهورية مالي, Jumhūriyyāt Mālī is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali ...

's Mopti Region, near the town of

Hombori Hombori is a small town and rural commune in the Cercle of Douentza in the Mopti Region of Mali. The commune contains 25 villages and in the 2009 census had a population of 23,099. The town lies just to the north of the Hombori Tondo mesa on the ...

. At 1,155 meters, it is the highest point in Mali.

Biodiversity

Mount Hombori is an important location for biodiversity in the

Sahel The Sahel (; ar, ساحل ' , "coast, shore") is a region in North Africa. It is defined as the ecoclimatic and biogeographic realm of transition between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanian savanna to the south. Having a hot semi-arid c ...

, with 150 different species of plants along with various species of

mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s, and

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...

s on its two-square-kilometer plateau surface.

Flora

In contrast to the surface of the plateau, the surrounding 10,000 square kilometers of flatlands contain only about 200 different species of plants. A major contributing factor to Hombori's biodiversity is a lack of cattle grazing at the summit, which is protected on all sides by sheer cliffs. For many species of plants, including ''

Bombax costatum ''Bombax costatum'' is a tree usually reaching a height of 5 – 15 m. It flowers in the dry season before the leaves appear. Distribution Its distribution is restricted to the savanna zones of West Africa from Senegal to the Central African Re ...

'', Hombori is the northernmost point of their distribution, demonstrating its importance as a haven for many southern species.

Fauna

Mount Hombori is home to some animal species, namely reptiles and birds, but also some species of mammals including the

rock hyrax The rock hyrax (; ''Procavia capensis''), also called dassie, Cape hyrax, rock rabbit, and (in the King James Bible) coney, is a medium-sized terrestrial mammal native to Africa and the Middle East. Commonly referred to in South Africa as the das ...

and

olive baboon The olive baboon (''Papio anubis''), also called the Anubis baboon, is a member of the family Cercopithecidae Old World monkeys. The species is the most wide-ranging of all baboons, being native to 25 countries throughout Africa, extending from ...

Archaeology

Mount Hombori is a significant

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

site, with caves inhabited more than 2,000 years ago.

References

Inselbergs of Africa Mountains of Mali Highest points of countries Dogon Country Dogon holy places {{Mopti-geo-stub

Biodiversity

Flora

Fauna

Archaeology

See also

References