Kitumbeine Volcano also known as Kitumbeine (''Mlima Kitumbeine'', in

Swahili Swahili may refer to: * Swahili language, a Bantu language officially used in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda and widely spoken in the African Great Lakes. * Swahili people, an ethnic group in East Africa. * Swahili culture, the culture of the Swahili p ...

) at 2,850m is a

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

located in

Longido District Longido District (''Wilaya ya Longido'' in Swahili language, Swahili) is one of seven Districts of Tanzania, districts of the Arusha Region of Tanzania. The district is bordered to the east by the Ngorongoro District, to the south west by the Mo ...

Arusha Region Arusha Region () is one of Tanzania's 31 administrative Regions of Tanzania, regions and is located in the northeast of the country. The region's capital and largest city is the city of Arusha. The region is bordered by Kajiado County and Narok C ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. It stands at . The volcano is shared amongst three wards of Longido District, namely; Elang'ata Dapash, Kitumbeine and Iloirienito wards. The volcano is located in the geographic area known as the

Crater Highlands The Crater Highlands or Ngorongoro Volcanic Highlands (''Milima kasoko ya Ngorongoro '', in Swahili) are a geological region along the East African Rift in the Arusha Region and parts of northern Manyara Region in north Tanzania. The Crater H ...

and is a shield volcano that last erupted in the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. Ketumbeine volcano activity continued throughout the Pleistocene. The mountain is home to an

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

frog known as

Strongylopus kitumbeine ''Strongylopus kitumbeine'' (common name: Kitumbeine stream frog) is a species of frogs in the family Pyxicephalidae. It is endemic to Longido District of Arusha Region of Tanzania and only known from its type locality, Kitumbeine Volcano. The ...

or Kitumbeine Stream Frog, which belongs to the

Pyxicephalidae The Pyxicephalidae are a Family (biology), family of frogs currently found in sub-Saharan Africa. However, in the Eocene, the taxon ''Thaumastosaurus'' lived in Europe. Classification The Pyxicephalidae contain two subfamilies, with a total of 1 ...

family. The species inhabits

Afromontane The Afromontane regions are subregions of the Afrotropical realm, one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms, covering the plant and animal species found in the mountains of Africa and the southern Arabian Peninsula. The Afromontane regions o ...

Juniperus Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' ( ) of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere as far south ...

forests and tussock grasslands at elevations ranging from

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

along semi-permanent and seasonal streams and around temporary pools. It can also survive in poorly disturbed forest. Breeding occurs in open water. While it is common within its restricted range, it has been classified as a

vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...

due to threats from

Maasai Maasai may refer to: *Maasai people *Maasai language *Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) Masai may refer to: *Masai, Johor, a town in Malaysia * Masai Plateau, a plateau in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India *Maasai peopl ...

livestock grazing and fire, as well as its small range.

References

Volcanoes of Tanzania Geography of Arusha Region Pleistocene shield volcanoes Shield volcanoes of Africa {{Arusha-geo-stub