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Mount Rungwe

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Wetman (talk | contribs) at 16:37, 2 January 2007 (2005). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Mount Rungwe, is a dormant volcano in the Mbeya region of the Southern Highlands of Tanzania; at an altitude of 2960m it is southern Tanzania's second highest peak. Rungwe stands at the junction of the eastern and western arms of the Great Rift Valley of Africa. It dominates the mountainous country at the north-west end of the trough that contains Lake Nyasa. The southeastern slopes of these mountains receive up to 3,000 mm of rainfall a year, the highest rainfall in Tanzania; the slopes are covered with a belt of tropical montane forest. Above the treeline, at about 2600 m, there is a belt of heathland. Much of the mountain was listed as a Forest Reserve as early as 1949.

The genus of monkey, Rungwecebus kipunji that was named for the mountain in 2005 was initially thought to be a type of mangabey from the genus Lophocebus, until more detailed genetic analysis showed its closer connection to baboons.

References

9°07′S 33°38′E / 9.117°S 33.633°E / -9.117; 33.633