It is the result of a convergent plate boundary between the Nazca Plate and the South American Plate. [33] Other animals found in the relatively open habitats of the high Andes include the huemul, cougar, foxes in the genus Pseudalopex,[31][32] and, for birds, certain species of tinamous (notably members of the genus Nothoprocta), Andean goose, giant coot, flamingos (mainly associated with hypersaline lakes), lesser rhea, Andean flicker, diademed sandpiper-plover, miners, sierra-finches and diuca-finches. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Mountains can be explained as landforms that rise well above the surrounding land for a limited area in the form of a peak. About 30,000 species of vascular plants live in the Andes, with roughly half being endemic to the region, surpassing the diversity of any other hotspot. Kuhle, M. (1984): Spuren hocheiszeitlicher Gletscherbedeckung in der Aconcagua-Gruppe (32–33° S). The Andes are the longest chain of mountains in the world and include many of the highest peaks in the Western Hemisphere. A mountain range is a series of mountains or line of mountains that is related in origin. [12] [33], A number of species such as the royal cinclodes and white-browed tit-spinetail are associated with Polylepis, and consequently also threatened.[33]. They are home to over 80 million people and are one of the most densely populated large mountain ranges in the world. Geomorphological and geophysical investigation of a complex rock glacier system—Morenas Coloradas valley (Cordon del Plata, Mendoza, Argentina). [13] Further south in southern Patagonia the onset of the Andean orogeny caused the Magallanes Basin to evolve from being an extensional back-arc basin in the Mesozoic to being a compressional foreland basin in the Cenozoic.[14]. They separate a narrow western coastal area from the rest of the continent, affecting deeply the conditions of life within the ranges themselves and in surrounding areas. The Andes mountain range is a plateau region including mountains and peaks at different altitudes. Kuhle, M. (1990): Ice Marginal Ramps and Alluvial Fans in Semi-Arid Mountains: Convergence and Difference. 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