Torricelli Mountains is a mountain range

Mountain range

A mountain range is a single, large mass consisting of a succession of mountains or narrowly spaced mountain ridges, with or without peaks, closely related in position, direction, formation, and age; a component part of a mountain system or of a mountain chain...

 in Sandaun Province, northwestern Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...

. The highest peak in the range is Mount Sulen at 1650 meters. The Bewani Mountains

Bewani Mountains

Bewani Mountains is a mountain range in northwestern Papua New Guinea. Together with the Torricelli Mountains and Prince Alexander Mountains it forms the North Coastal Range of Papua New Guinea...

 are located to the west, and the Prince Alexander Mountains

Prince Alexander Mountains

The Prince Alexander Mountains are a mountain range in Papua New Guinea. The range is located on the northern coast of New Guinea. The Torricelli Mountains lie to the west, and the basin of the Sepik River lies to the south...

 are located to the east. To the north, the mountains slope down to the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, and to the south lies the basin of the Sepik River.

Ecology

The portion of the range above 1000 meters elevation is home to the Northern New Guinea montane rain forests ecoregion

Ecoregion

An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...

, which also extends across portions of the neighboring ranges. The slopes below 1000 meters are part of the Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests

Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests

The Northern New Guinea lowland rain and freshwater swamp forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion of northern New Guinea.-Setting:...

.

One of the most endangered mammals in the world: Scott’s Tree-kangaroo

Tenkile

The Tenkile , also known as Scott's Tree-kangaroo, is a species of tree-kangaroo in the Macropodidae family. It is endemic to a very small area of the Torricelli Mountains of Papua New Guinea. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical dry forests. It is threatened by habitat loss.The Tenkile...

 (Dendrolagus scottae) and Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo

Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo

The Golden-mantled Tree-kangaroo is a species of tree-kangaroo native and endemic to montane forests of northern New Guinea. It has chestnut brown short coat with a pale belly, and yellowish neck, cheeks and feet. A double golden stripe runs down its back...

 (Dendrolagus pulcherrimus) live in the mountains' rainforest

Rainforest

Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

.

External links

• Northern New Guinea montane rain forests (World Wildlife Fund)