Cerro El Potosí is the highest

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

in the

Sierra Madre Oriental The Sierra Madre Oriental () is a mountain range in northeastern Mexico. The Sierra Madre Oriental is part of the American Cordillera, a chain of mountain ranges (cordillera) that consists of an almost continuous sequence of mountain ranges that ...

mountain range of northeast

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. It is located in the state of

Nuevo León Nuevo León, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Nuevo León, is a Administrative divisions of Mexico, state in northeastern Mexico. The state borders the Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, Zacatecas, and San Luis Potosí, San Luis ...

, about 80 km (50 mi) south of

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

Flora and fauna

It is composed of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

, and is noted for its very diverse

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

including several

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

or near-endemic species, such as the

Potosi Pinyon ''Pinus culminicola'', commonly known as Potosí pinyon or Potosí Piñón, is a pine in the pinyon pine group, native and endemic to northeast Mexico. The range is highly localised, confined to a small area of high summits in the northern Sier ...

. At the foot of the mountain, a series of springs and

endorheic basin An endorheic basin ( ; also endoreic basin and endorreic basin) is a drainage basin that normally retains water and allows no outflow to other external bodies of water (e.g. rivers and oceans); instead, the water drainage flows into permanent ...

s were the only site in which the pupfish '' Cyprinodon alvarezi'' and ''

Megupsilon aporus The Catarina pupfish (''Megupsilon aporus'') was a diminutive species of fish in the family Cyprinodontidae, first described in 1972. It was Endemism, endemic to a spring in Nuevo León, Mexico. In an attempt of saving the rapidly declining speci ...

'', and the dwarf crayfish '' Cambarellus alvarezi'' lived. The last two are entirely extinct, while ''Cyprinodon alvarezi'' is

extinct in the wild A species that is extinct in the wild (EW) is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as only consisting of living members kept in captivity or as a naturalized population outside its historic range ...

(only survives in captivity).

Access

Access was very difficult in the past, but in the 1960s a

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...

relay station was built on the summit, with the road built for this providing easy access from the east.

Protected areas

In 2000 the upper slopes of the mountain were designated an ecological reserve, covering 9.02 km².UNEP-WCMC (2021). Protected Area Profile for Cerro El Potosí from the World Database of Protected Areas. Accessed 7 September 2021

/ref> A northern portion of the mountain, including the actual summit, are in the Cuenca Alimentadora del Distrito Nacional de Riego 026 Bajo Río San Juan, a natural resources protection area.

References

External links

"Cerro el Potosí, Mexico" on Peakbagger
Potosi Landforms of Nuevo León Sierra Madre Oriental North American 3000 m summits Protected areas of the Sierra Madre Oriental Important Bird Areas of Mexico {{NuevoLeón-geo-stub

Flora and fauna

Access

Protected areas

See also

References

External links