Nilgiri mountains

The Nilgiri (blue mountains), are a range of mountains forming a part of the Western Ghats situated in the western part of Tamil Nadu state at the junction of Karnataka and Kerala states in Southern India. There are at least 24 peaks above 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) which make the southwestern edge of the Deccan Plateau.Here Doddabetta is the highest peak (2,637 metres or 8,650 feet) in the The Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu state.

Location

The hills are separated from the Karnataka plateau to the north by the Moyar River and from the Anaimalai Hills and Palni Hills to the south by the Palghat Gap. The Nilgiris District of Tamil Nadu lies within these mountains. Its latitudinal and longitudinal dimensions are 130 km (Latitude: 11° 08' to 11° 37' N) by 185 km (Longitude: 76° 27' E to 77° 4' E). Central location is: 11°22′30″N 76°45′30″E / 11.37500°N 76.75833°E / 11.37500; 76.75833. It has an area of 2,479 square kilometres (957 sq mi).

It is connected via Nilgiri Mountain Railway.

Nilgiri

Nilgiri, which literally means "Blue Mountain" in many languages, may refer to:

Nilgiri tahr

The Nilgiri tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius) known locally as the Nilgiri ibex or simply ibex, is an ungulate that is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western Ghats in the states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in Southern India. It is the state animal of Tamil Nadu. Despite its local name, it is more closely related to the sheep of the Ovis genus than the Ibex and wild goats of the Capra genus.

Etymology

In the Tamil language it is called varaiaadu (வரையாடு), the term being composed of two Tamil words, wurrai a precipice, and aadu, a goat.In Malayalam it is pronounced as "Varayaadu" (വരയാട്). The ancient word in classical Tamil was "varudai" (வருடை: Natrinai, 359; Ainkurunuru, 287; Pattinappalai, 139). It was previously named Capra warryato by John Edward Gray.

Taxonomy

Its closest relatives are sheep (genus Ovis). Until 2005, it was placed with the Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) and the Arabian tahr (Arabitragus jayakari) in the genus Hemitragus. However, it has recently been transferred to a new genus Nilgiritragus because it is genetically more similar to members of the genus Ovis than to other tahrs.