The Tamá Massif ( Spanish : Macizo del Tamá ) is a group of mountains on the border between Colombia and Venezuela to the south of Lake Maracaibo . It contains evergreen rainforest and cloud forest at the lower levels, and páramos (high moors) at the highest levels.
12-766: The Tamá is a prolongation of the Cordillera Oriental of the Colombian Andes. It is separated from the Cordillera de Mérida in the Venezuelan Andes by the Táchira depression , which more than 50 million years ago was a strait that connected Lake Maracaibo with the Orinoco basin. Elevations range from 320 to 3,329 metres (1,050 to 10,922 ft). Average annual temperature is 25 °C (77 °F). Average annual rainfall
24-658: A substantial part of the central part of the range as a national park ( Sierra de Perijá National Park ), and Colombia has a smaller one. In the Venezuelan portion there are Amerindian reservations for the Yucpa and Barí people, and in Colombia for the Iroko and Sokorpa people. Venezuela has started a colonialization border plan building new communities along the border in the Perijá. The town of Cojoro
36-810: Is 2,300 millimetres (91 in). The Tamá National Natural Park in Colombia and the El Tamá National Park in Venezuela protect parts of the Tamá Massif. The two parks together form a protected area of 1,390 km (540 sq mi). The Tamá massif is a set of folded mountain ranges with extremely steep topography. It contains the El Tamá páramos (high moors) at an elevation of 3,320 metres (10,890 ft), Cerro El Cobre at 3,613 metres (11,854 ft) and Cerro Judío at 3,372 metres (11,063 ft). The mountains are mainly of limestone or sandstone rock, typical of
48-601: Is a well-developed understory and many epiphytes . Forest species include the colorful Lagenanthus princeps . In the páramos the plant species are of the genera Jamesonia , Oreobulus , Castilleja , Gentiana , Halenia , Pinguicula , Utricularia , Castratella and Vaccinium . Mammals include the spectacled bear ( Tremarctos ornatus ), tapir , lowland paca ( Cuniculus paca ), anteater and ocelot ( Leopardus pardalis ). The endemic wood sprite gracile opossum ( Gracilinanus dryas ) and Luis Manuel's tailless bat ( Anoura luismanueli ) are found in both
60-700: Is the widest of the three branches of the Colombian Andes . The range extends from south to north, dividing from the Colombian Massif in Huila Department to Norte de Santander Department where it splits into the Serranía del Perijá and the Cordillera de Mérida in Venezuelan Andes . The highest peak is Ritacuba Blanco at 5,410 m (17,750 ft) in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy . The western part of
72-627: The Guajira Desert , a total distance of about 310 kilometres (190 mi). It separates the Maracaibo Basin from the Cesar-Ranchería Basin . Some of the area has been considered as a Flora and Fauna Sanctuary. Starting at the southernmost point, near Ocaña, Colombia , this mountain range forms the boundary between the Colombian departments of Norte de Santander and Cesar , and then as
84-569: The Guiana Shield . The Tamá National Natural Park contains an 820-metre-high (2,690 ft) waterfall one of the world's highest. The páramos give rise to rivers such as the Carapo , Chiquito, Quinimarí , Quite, Burguita, Burga, Nula, Nulital, Sarare , Cutufí, Oirá, Frío and Negro, which drain into the Orinoco basin or into Lake Maracaibo. The Táchira River , which drains into Lake Maracaibo, forms part of
96-588: The Andean Cordillera and the Tamá Massif. Restricted range bird species in the Tamá massif include Táchira antpitta ( Grallaria chthonia ), hooded antpitta ( Grallaricula cucullata ) and Venezuelan wood quail ( Odontophorus columbianus ). Tamá harlequin frog and Helena's marsupial frog are endemic to the Páramo de Tamá. Cordillera Oriental (Colombia) The Cordillera Oriental (English: Eastern Ranges )
108-677: The Cordillera Oriental belongs to the Magdalena River basin, while the eastern part includes the river basins of the Amazon River , Orinoco River , and Catatumbo River . Within it, the Altiplano Cundiboyacense and the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (with the only snowy peaks in this mountain range) stand out. The mountain range contains the most páramos in the world. The Cordillera Oriental montane forests ecoregion covers
120-506: The border between Colombia and Venezuela. Tamá has four types of natural environments: tropical rainforest, sub-Andean forest, Andean forest and páramo . The forests are included in the Venezuelan Andes montane forests ecoregion, which also covers the Venezuelan Andean cordillera. The vegetation between 800 and 1,800 metres (2,600 and 5,900 ft) is dense evergreen rainforest of medium height with two or three arboreal strata. There
132-502: The eastern slopes of the cordillera and its northern end. The Magdalena Valley montane forests cover the western slopes. The Northern Andean páramo covers the highest elevations. Serran%C3%ADa del Perij%C3%A1 The Serranía del Perijá , Cordillera de Perijá or Sierra de Perijá [pe.ɾi.ˈxa] is a mountain range, an extension of the eastern Andean branch ( Cordillera Oriental ), in northern South America, between Colombia and Venezuela , ending further north in
SECTION 10
#1733092642485144-506: The range progresses north, it forms the international boundary between Venezuela ( Zulia State ) and Colombia (Cesar Department). Included in the range are the Sierra Motilones, Sierra Valledupar, and Sierra Oca. The highest point is Cerro de Las Tetas at 3630 meters, followed by Cerro Irapa at 3540 m., Serranía de Macuira at 864 m., and Cerro Aceite at 853 m. The range is 58% in Venezuela, and 42% in Colombia . Venezuela has set aside
#484515