Wei-Assipu-tepui explained

Wei-Assipu-tepui, also known as Little Roraima or Roraimita,^[2] is a minor tepui of the Eastern Tepuis chain. It lies just off the northeastern flank of Roraima-tepui in the country of Brazil, directly on the border with neighboring Guyana in the disputed Essequibo territory, and very close to the tripoint of all three countries. The mountain is known for its extensive cave systems, with one extending for over a kilometre.^[3]

Wei-Assipu-tepui has a maximum elevation of around 2400m (7,900feet). Its summit plateau is highly dissected and generally inclined south-southwest (towards the Brazilian side). The rocky summit is partially forested, with flowering plants of the genus Bonnetia featuring prominently. It also hosts a number of carnivorous plants, including Heliamphora glabra, Heliamphora nutans, and the natural hybrid between the two. The various rock cavities of Wei-Assipu-tepui are home to nesting colonies of white-collared swifts (Streptoprocne zonaris) and oilbirds (Steatornis caripensis). For the latter species, Wei-Assipu-tepui is the easternmost recorded locality in mainland South America, and the first known nesting site in Brazil. The mountain's summit supports a greater variety of herpetofauna than the less vegetated plateaus of nearby Roraima-tepui, Kukenán-tepui, Yuruaní-tepui, and Ilú-tepui. Day temperatures of have been recorded on the summit plateau, falling to overnight, with slightly lower values in the more sheltered caves.

In the first expedition of its type to Wei-Assipu-tepui, an Italian–Venezuelan team of speleologists explored the mountain's summit plateau in July 2000, surveying four caves and several minor cavities.^[4] On this expedition were also discovered four previously unknown species of frogs (one of which was later described as Oreophrynella weiassipuensis^[5]), and at least two of harvestmen.^[6]

According to Carreño et al. (2002), the oldest biblio-cartographic reference to the mountain is likely that of Marie Penelope Rose Clementi (wife of Cecil Clementi), circa 1920,^[7] who recounted how its location was determined with a prismatic compass during an English expedition of 1915.

Surveyed caves and cavities of Wei-Assipu-tepui! Name !! Extent !! Depth !! Altitude

Sima de los Guácharos de Wei-Assipu-tepui	1194m (3,917feet)	111m (364feet)	2280m (7,480feet)
Sima Wei-Assipu-tepui Oeste	280m (920feet)	92m (302feet)	~2100m (6,900feet)
Abrigo Superior de Wei-Assipu-tepui	136m (446feet)	20m (70feet)	2355m (7,726feet)
Hotel de Wei-Assipu-tepui	54m (177feet)	4m (13feet)	2330m (7,640feet)
"Gruta de la Colecta" de Wei-Assipu-tepui	20m (70feet)	3m (10feet)

See also

• Distribution of Heliamphora

Further reading

• Carreño, R., J. Nolla & J. Astort (2001). Resultados preliminares de la expedición espeleológica Italo-Venezolana al Macizo del Roraima. VI Jornadas Venezolanas de Espeleología, Noviembre 2001, Maracay. Resúmenes, pp. 19–21.
• Désamoré, A., A. Vanderpoorten, B. Laenen, S.R. Gradstein & P.J.R. Kok (30 September 2010). Biogeography of the Lost World (Pantepui region, northeastern South America): insights from bryophytes. Phytotaxa 9: 254–265.
• Kok, P.J.R., D.B. Means & F. Bossuyt (30 June 2011). A new highland species of Pristimantis Jiménez de la Espada, 1871 (Anura: Strabomantidae) from the Pantepui region, northern South America. Zootaxa 2934: 1–19.
• Kok, P.J.R., R.D. MacCulloch, D.B. Means, K. Roelants, I. Van Bocxlaer & F. Bossuyt (7 August 2012). Web site: Low genetic diversity in tepui summit vertebrates. . Current Biology 22(15): R589–R590. [{{cite web|url= http://download.cell.com/current-biology/mmcs/journals/0960-9822/PIIS0960982212007105.mmc1.pdf |title=supplementary information }}]

External links

• Return to the Tepuis — National Geographic film about expedition to Wei-Assipu-tepui

Notes and References

1. MacCulloch, R.D., A. Lathrop, R.P. Reynolds, J.C. Señaris & G.E. Schneider (2007). Web site: Herpetofauna of Mount Roraima, Guiana Shield region, northeastern South America. . Herpetological Review 38(1): 24–30.
2. McPherson, S., A. Wistuba, A. Fleischmann & J. Nerz (2011). Sarraceniaceae of South America. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
3. Carreño, R., J. Nolla & J. Astort (December 2002). Cavidades del Wei-Assipu-tepui, Macizo del Roraima, Brasil. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Espeleología 36: 36–45.
4. Urbani, F., P. Compère & L. Willems (December 2005). Opal-A speleothems of Wei-Assipu-tepui, Roraima Province, Brazil. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Espeleología 39: 21–26.
5. Señaris, J.C., C. DoNascimiento & O. Villarreal (2005). A new species of the genus Oreophrynella (Anura; Bufonidae) from the Guiana Highlands. Papéis Avulsos de Zoologia 45(6): 61–67.
6. Villarreal, O., C. Señaris & C. DoNascimiento (December 2002). Contribución al conocimiento faunístico del Wei-Assipu-tepui, Macizo del Roraima, con énafasis en la anurofauna y opiliofauna. Boletín de la Sociedad Venezolana de Espeleología 36: 46–50.
7. "Mrs. Cecil Clementi" (1920). Through British Guiana to the Summit of Roraima. E. P. Dutton and Company, New York.