Mogotes de Jumagua
The Mogotes de Jumagua are a set of 8 elevated limestone features (Spanish: Mogotes) in the Villa Clara Province of Cuba. They are located within the orographic group Heights of the Northwest in the center-north of the Island of Cuba, two kilometers south-west from the city of Sagua la Grande.
The pinnacles are of Upper Cretaceous age and are fused to each other, presenting enormous caverns. They have great scientific interest due to the enormous concentration of flora and fauna in a relatively reduced area, forming an ecological small island. Species in the area are vestige of the old primitive Cuban gold coast forests. It was listed as a nature reserve by the Cuban authorities, protecting an area of 4.79 km2 (1.85 sq mi).
Before 1970 Jumagua's Mogotes weren't studied scientifically at all, this year mark the beginning of what can probably be considered one of the most important success stories for Cuban naturalists and nature lovers. Nnever before Jumagua hills were studied scientifically and had until that moment no apparent interest, so using them as limestone mines was considered a viable economic use. Because the site was only visited by sporadic students or some curious traveler mostly looking for gold (a local legend goes a pirate used the hills to hide a treasure and never came back to claim it) no definition as wildlife refugee, archaeological or speleological site, or any ecological importance was attached to it.
In the 70's however Sabaneque Speleological Group from Sagua la Grande starts the production of a cartographic map of the region along with a flora and fauna catalog of the caverns in the mogotes. They discovered that the small caves were actually subterranean developed system of caverns with lakes and rivers. Numerous rare endemic animals were also discovered, among them a unique pseudo scorpion, not many species of scorpions live in Cuba, local farmers used to say they have spotted a different kind of scorpion that only lived in the Mogotes and the research of the scientist prove this true this fable. Also discovered; giant fisher bat colonies, cave tortoises, blind fishes and crabs, and the American ell Anguilla rostrata. In the case of the ells is also an impressive example of adaptation since this species usually live in the ocean, they move into rivers and lakes only to give birth. Fossils like the disappeared snail Pseudomiltha sp. and a giant rodent (Megalocnus rodens) that once roam Cuban forests were also uncovered. The Megalocnus is so big that is used to be described by paleontologists as the Cuban bear. Last but not least bones and other proof that Cuban indigenous people lived in the area prior to the Spanish conquest.
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