Los Testigos, also known as the Aparamán range, is a mountain chain in Bolívar, Venezuela.Huber, O. (1995). Geographical and physical features. In: P.E. Berry, B.K. Holst & K. Yatskievych (eds.) Flora of the Venezuelan Guayana. Volume 1. Introduction. Missouri Botanical Garden Press, St. Louis. pp. 1–61. It consists of four rather small tepuis, forming a bridge between the giant Auyán-tepui to the west and Ptari-tepui to the east. The four major peaks of Los Testigos are (west to east): Aparamán-tepui (2,100 m), Murisipán-tepui (2,350 m), Tereke-yurén-tepui (1,900 m), and Kamarkawarai-tepui (2,400 m), the latter three sharing a common slope area. There however remains some confusion in the literature regarding the names of these peaks.
The Los Testigos chain has a total summit area of around and an estimated slope area of (the collective slope area of the three eastern tepuis being around , with the isolated Aparamán-tepui contributing a further ). The chain is situated entirely within the bounds of Canaima National Park. Torres, I.N. & D.D. Martín (November 2007). Mejorando Nuestra Herencia.
In line with and to the west of the Los Testigos chain lies the Los Hermanos massif, which consists of two upland peaks: Amaruay-tepui and Padapué-tepui. Both massifs are located northeast of the Catholic mission at Kamarata.
__NOTOC__ See also Distribution of Heliamphora
Notes
a.Otto Huber summarised this toponymic confusion as follows: "There is, however, confusion concerning the precise names of the two central mountains; according to Brewer-Carías (1978), Murochiopán-tepui is the name of a smaller lateral mountain of Aparamán, followed to the east by the high Tereke Yurén-tepui and the lower Tucuy-wo-cuyén-tepui, whereas members of the Terramar Foundation expeditions (Steyermark 1986a; Holst 1987; George 1988) apply the name Murisipán-tepui to Brewer's Tereke Yurén-tepui, and the name Tereke-yurén-tepui to Brewer's Tucuy-wo-cuyén-tepui, omitting the name of the smaller lateral mountain of Aparamán-tepui." A yet different sequence (and spelling) of names can be found in, for example, the formal description of Heliamphora folliculata, namely: Murosipan, Aparaman, Tereke-Yuren, and Kamarkaiwaran.Wistuba, A., P. Harbarth & T. Carow (December 2001). Heliamphora folliculata, a new species of Heliamphora (Sarraceniaceae) from the ‘Los Testigos’ table mountains in the south of Venezuela. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 30(4): 120–125.
References
Further reading
Jaffe, K., J. Lattke & R. Perez-Hernández (January–June 1993). Ants on the tepuies of the Guiana Shield: a zoogeographic study. Ecotropicos 6(1): 21–28.