Cerro Duida

Cerro Duida, known as Yennamadi by the Ye'kuana,^[2] is a very large tepui in Amazonas state, Venezuela.^[1] It has an uneven and heavily inclined plateau, rising from highs of around 1,300–1,400 metres (4,300–4,600 ft) in the north and east to a maximum of 2,358 metres (7,736 ft) on its southwestern rim.^[1] It has a summit area of 1,089 km² (420 sq mi) and an estimated slope area of 715 km² (276 sq mi).^[1] At its foot lies the small settlement of La Esmeralda, from which the mountain can be climbed.^[3]

Cerro Duida
Cerro Duida (background) as seen from La Esmeralda
Highest point
Elevation	2,358 m (7,736 ft)[1]
Coordinates	03°30′48″N 65°37′34″W
Geography
Cerro Duida Location in Venezuela
Location	Amazonas, Venezuela

Cerro Duida shares a common base with the much smaller (but taller) Cerro Marahuaca, located off its northeastern flank, and together they form the Duida–Marahuaca Massif.^[1] Both tepuis are entirely within the bounds of Duida-Marahuaca National Park. Sandwiched between them, a massive ridge known as Cerro Petaca rises to at least 2,700 metres (8,900 ft). The much lower Cerro Huachamacari, derived from a separate base, lies to the northwest of this complex.^[1]

Tyler-Duida expedition

George Henry Hamilton Tate led a major expedition of the American Museum of Natural History to Cerro Duida in 1928–1929.^[3][4] Named the Tyler-Duida Expedition, it was the first to reach the mountain's summit plateau and the first to climb a tepui of the Venezuelan Amazon.^[5] Mount Duida frog was first collected during the expedition and is still not known from anywhere else, although it was formally described only 40 years later.^[6][7] Although primarily a zoological expedition, much plant material was collected.^[4] These herbarium collections were studied extensively by Henry Gleason, who formally described many of the mountain's plant species in a series of papers published in 1931.^{[8][9][10][11]} This was followed by a number of important botanical explorations of Cerro Duida, first by Julian A. Steyermark in 1944 and later by Bassett Maguire in 1949 and 1950.^[4][5]

See also

• Distribution of Heliamphora
• Duida grass finch