Taita mountain dwarf galago from Taita Hills

The Taita Hills, sometimes also spelled as Teita Hills, are a mountain range located in the Taita-Taveta County in south-eastern

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

. The hills consist of three massifs: Dawida, Sagalla in the southern side of Voi township and Kasigau in the south near the border of Tanzania. The Dawida massif is the largest and tallest of the three, with an altitude of above sea level at its highest peak, Vuria. Dabida has three other main peaks: Iyale, Wesu, and Susu.

Geology

The Taita Hills, with others in the

Eastern Arc Mountains The Eastern Arc Mountains is a chain of mountains found in Kenya and Tanzania. The chain runs from northeast to southwest, with the Taita Hills being in Kenya and the other ranges being in Tanzania. They are delimited on the southwest by the fau ...

, were formed more than one hundred million years ago. About thirty million years ago, the area was covered by extensive

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfores ...

. During a cooler and drier period some ten million years ago, the lowland forests were converted to

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

, leaving the mountain ranges as "islands" where the tropical forests continued to flourish. The isolation of each mountain range has led to a great deal of

endemism 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 ...

, and a very diverse flora and fauna. Some of the other mountain ranges are well-forested, but the Taita Hills retain just of forest. The Taita Hills rise steeply from the

Tsavo West National Park Tsavo West National Park is located in the Coast Province of Kenya. The park covers an area of 9,065 square kilometres. The A109 road Nairobi-Mombasa and a railway divides it from the adjoining Tsavo East National Park. Together with adjoining ...

Ecology

The hills are known for their moist forests with a unique fauna and flora. More than 20 endemic species of African violets (e.g., ''

Streptocarpus teitensis ''Streptocarpus teitensis'', synonym ''Saintpaulia teitensis'', is a species of ''Streptocarpus'' in the section '' Saintpaulia''. It is endemic to 1 square kilometer on Mbololo Hill in the Taita Hills of southern Kenya ) , national_anthem ...

'') occur exclusively in that region. Known endemic bird species are the

Taita thrush The Taita thrush (''Turdus helleri''), also known as the Taita olive thrush or Heller's ground thrush, is an endangered bird from the family of thrushes (Turdidae), endemic to the Taita Hills in Kenya. Description The Taita thrush was previously ...

(''Turdus helleri'') and the

Taita apalis The Taita apalis (''Apalis fuscigularis'') is a bird in the family Cisticolidae that is endemic to the Taita Hills in Kenya. It was formerly considered to be a subspecies of the bar-throated apalis. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical ...

(''Apalis fuscigularis''). The

Taita falcon The Taita falcon (''Falco fasciinucha'') is a small falcon found in central and eastern Africa. It was first described from the Taita Hills of Kenya from which it derives its name. Description The Taita falcon is a small, rare raptor species. ...

(''Falco fasciinucha'') and the

Taita fiscal The Taita fiscal or Teita fiscal (''Lanius dorsalis'') is a member of the shrike family found in east Africa from southeastern South Sudan, southern Ethiopia, and western Somalia to northeastern Tanzania.BirdLife International and Natureserve (2 ...

(''Lanius dorsalis'') were first discovered at the hills but occur elsewhere, too. An

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

in the genus ''

Boulengerula ''Boulengerula'' is a genus of amphibians in the family Herpelidae. They are found in East Africa. They are sometimes known as Boulenger's caecilians or Usambara bluish-gray caecilians. Ecology ''Boulengerula taitana'' feeds on earthworms, ter ...

'' occurs only in the Taita Hills. The Sagala caecilian (''

Boulengerula niedeni ''Boulengerula niedeni'', the Sagalla caecilian, is a worm-like amphibian first described in 2005. The species was described from a specimen discovered on Sagala Hill, an isolated mountain block of the Taita Hills in Kenya, and is not known fr ...

'') is a critically endangered worm-like amphibian that lives in the Taita Hills. The native

Taita people The Taita people (the ''Wataita'' or Wadawida) are a Kenyan ethnic group located in the Taita-Taveta County.For ethnographic details, see "The Teita," pp.97-132, In: A.H.J. Prins 1952.''The Coastal Tribes of the North-Eastern Bantu (Pokomo, Ny ...

are living at the edge of the forests and farming the soil, which is very productive. Fifty percent of indigenous forests were replaced by exotic tree plantations between 1955 and 2004. The region was severely logged in the past and the remaining indigenous forest is now part of a nature reserve, the Taita Hills Wildlife Sanctuary. On the plains and foothills surrounding the hills, the land is predominantly used for cropping and grazing. The largest fragments of forest are located in the most inaccessible areas. The land is being degraded by deforestation, the lowering of the water table, and soil erosion. The annual rainfall varies from in the lowlands to more than three times this amount in the mountain zone. This area experiences two rainy seasons: March to May or June, and October to December, but the precipitation is very variable. Remaining forests are amazingly abundant with all forms of life Taita Hills are home to Small-Eared Greater Galago (''Otolemur garnettii'') and rare (but locally abundant)

tree hyrax The tree hyrax or tree dassie is a small nocturnal mammal native to Africa. Distantly related to elephants and sea cows, it comprises the four species in the genus ''Dendrohyrax'', one of only three genera in the family Procaviidae, which is t ...

(''Dendrohyrax'' sp.).

Dwarf galago The western dwarf galagos are a group of three species of strepsirrhine primates, native to western and central Africa. They are classified in the genus ''Galagoides'' of the family Galagidae. The eastern dwarf galagos (''P. cocos, P. granti, P. ...

(''Paragalago cocos'') are still also found in the Taita Hills, although its numbers are dangerously low. Rosti, H., Rikkinen, J., Pellikka, P., Bearder, S., & Mwamodenyi, J. (2020). Taita Mountain dwarf galago is extant in the Taita Hills of Kenya. Oryx, 54(2), 152-153. doi:10.1017/S003060531900142X

References

External links

More information of Taita Hills and in particular animals of Taita Hills: animalstaita.com
{{Coord, 3, 25, S, 38, 20, E, display=title, region:KE_type:mountain_source:GNS-enwiki Mountain ranges of Kenya Eastern Arc forests Eastern Arc Mountains