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22-980: Mount Agou is part of an extreme western outlier of the Atakora Mountains that cross neighbouring Benin . Within the Togolese borders, this range is sometimes called the Togo Mountains . Together with these mountains, Mount Agou forms part of the Dahomeyide Orogen , an area that was uplifted in an orogenic process when the West African Craton bumped into the Benin-Nigerian Shield . The internal suture zone of this belt contains several isolated massifs that are oriented in North-South direction. Mount Agou

44-617: A subfamily of the brush-footed butterflies ( family Nymphalidae). They can be divided into 45–50 genera and were sometimes treated as a separate family Heliconiidae within the Papilionoidea . The colouration is predominantly reddish and black, and though of varying wing shape, the forewings are always elongated tipwards, hence the common name. Most longwings are found in the Tropics , particularly in South America ; only

66-483: A base of charnockitic igneous rock from the Neoproterozoic Era . The mountain itself is mainly made up of amphibolite , pyroxenites and gabbro , and contains deposits of bauxite . Historically, the region is inhabited by Ewe people . In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century, Adangme refugees settled at Mount Agou, fleeing from slave traders. In 1870 , Ashanti troops tried to subdue

88-498: A climb to the top of Mount Agou. The mountain and the surrounding areas were densely covered with rainforest in the past, with strong biological connections from Mount Agou to the rest of the Atakora chain. Starting from the second half of the twentieth century, strong deforestation has taken place for logging and agriculture, associated with considerable biodiversity loss, leaving only patches of original forest on isolated spots along

110-452: A sheepskin. They then cut a skin in pieces and surrounded the mountain with them. This story is similar to the traditional tale of the foundation of Carthage by Dido . Near the top of Mount Agou, the remains of military installations from both the German era and from French Togoland can be seen. These include a French military hospital from World War II. Memorial stones have been laid on

132-803: Is in the southwestern part of the range, close to the border with Ghana. Mont Sokbaro , widely cited as the highest point of Benin is part of the Atakora Mountains. To the north of the Togo Mountains, there is undulating savannah, creased by the broad, meandering valley of the Oti River , a tributary of the River Volta , which flows through Lake Volta and into the Gulf of Guinea in Ghana. Several tributaries to this river system flow from

154-565: Is part of one of these massifs which, depending on the scientific classification, is either called the Lato-Agou Massif (together with nearby Lato Hill ) or the Ahito-Agou Massif (together with Mount Ahito ). Although geologically part of these structures, Mount Agou presents itself as an inselberg , rising abruptly above the relatively flat Danyi Plateau with a drop of around 700 metres (2,300 ft). It stands on

176-754: The Argynnini are quite diverse in the Holarctic . Especially tropical species feed on poisonous plants , characteristically Passifloraceae vines, as larvae , becoming poisonous themselves. The adult butterflies announce their acquired toxicity with strong aposematic colours, warning off would-be predators . There are several famous cases of Batesian and Müllerian mimicry both within this group and with other butterflies. Other commonly seen food plants are Fabaceae (which also contain several toxic species), and particularly among northerly species of Violaceae . Four or five tribes are generally recognized in

198-635: The NameExoWorlds contest of 2019, organised by the International Astronomical Union . This Togo location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Atakora Mountains The Togo Mountains is a mountain range which stretches across the central region of the West African country of Togo and across the eastern and western borders of that country into Ghana and Benin . In Ghana,

220-478: The Heliconiinae. There have been numerous attempts to sort out the phylogenetic sequence and delimitation of these, but while the former has made good progress, the latter has hitherto only achieved limited results. Several phylogenies (and corresponding taxonomic adjustments) have been proposed, but though looking reasonable each and every one of them is only weakly supported. Even cladistic analyses of

242-461: The apparent anomalies seem to sort themselves out at least for the most part. For example, the confusing distribution pattern of Acraea in the wide circumscription is apparently simply due to the bulk of this morphologically conservative group warranting recognition as genus Telchinia – it stands to note that this group has on occasion been allied with Actinote rather than Acraea , and this indeed appears to be correct. In addition,

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264-467: The area, but were pushed back by the villages on the mountain. For this reason, the mountain is still seen as a symbol of resistance. In times of the German protectorate Togoland , the mountain was called Baumann Peak ( Baumannspitze ), named after geographer Oscar Baumann . A mythical narration tells that when the Germans arrived in nearby Naviè village, they made an agreement to buy what can fit into

286-538: The central region of Togo, ranging from the southwest to the northeast. To the northeast, the mountain range extends into Benin where it is known as the Atakora Mountains, and to the southwest it extends into Ghana where it is known as the Akwapim Hills. The average elevation of these mountains is 700 metres (2,300 ft) and the highest peak in Togo is Mount Agou , with a height of 986 metres (3,235 ft). It

308-429: The exact placement of each respective to the other tribes cannot be considered well resolved at all. Some tribes are distributed among several continents , resulting in a confusing phylogeography pattern. But as it seems, the apparent contradictions between systematics and biogeography are due to the premature classifications based on insufficient taxon sampling. With studies becoming more and more comprehensive,

330-821: The genus Pardopsis , often placed in the Acraeini, does almost certainly not belong there; it is now tentatively placed in the Argynnini. The relationships of the genus Cethosia (sometimes treated as a tribe of its own) are even more mysterious, and it is likely that some other genera will eventually also be moved to a different tribe as they are studied in detail. Some, like the Argynnini Argynnis , Boloria and Issoria , might be overlumped and non- monophyletic and thus some genera presently usually considered junior synonyms of them might eventually be validated like Telchinia . Genera are presented in

352-443: The mountain slopes. Nevertheless, biological research has been done, for example on butterflies ( Heliconiinae , Papilionoidea , Hesperioidea ) and on Pteridophytes . An exoplanet (planet orbiting another star) has the name Agouto , which is derived from Mount Agou. It circles the star WASP-64 at a distance of 1200 lightyears in the constellation of Canis Major It received its name from Togolese amateur astronomers in

374-408: The mountain that refer to these periods. In 1955, the cacao swollen shoot virus entered Togo from Ghana through the cocoa fields around Mount Agou. A particularly virulant variant of the virus was called "Agou 1". In the 2000s there were plans for commercial exploitation of the bauxite deposits on the mountain, which were met with protests from local environmental organisations. In the present day,

396-639: The northern side of the Togo Mountains. To the south of the mountains lies a plateau, which further south slopes gently towards the coast. The central and southern sides of the mountains drain into tributaries of the Mono River , which flows into the Gulf of Guinea through swampland on the borders of Togo and Benin. 7°25′N 0°40′E  /  7.417°N 0.667°E  / 7.417; 0.667 Heliconiinae and see text The Heliconiinae , commonly called heliconians or longwings , are

418-513: The range is also known as the Akwapim Hills , and in Benin it is also known as the Atakora Mountains / ˌ æ t ə ˈ k ɔːr ə / . Part of the range is associated with the country of Niger , where the W National Park is found. The African wild dog , Lycaon pictus , was historically found in this region but may now be extirpated from this locale. The Togo Mountains run across

440-422: The same type of data often yield contradicting results depending on the exact method of evaluation. Ultimately, the reason is that just a fraction of the evolutionary diversity of Heliconiinae has been sampled. What appears fairly certain is that the Argynnini and Vagrantini are closer relatives than any other two tribes of Heliconiinae. The Acraeini and Heliconiini are probably more basal lineages, but

462-438: The summit area is used for communications; the equipment includes an antenna on the mountain top. The slopes are lined with several villages and with cocoa and coffee fields that are interspersed with banana plants and other fruit trees. There is a paved road to the top that can be travelled by motorbike or car. Most tourists however prefer to take the unpaved footpaths that are used by the local population to commute between

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484-539: The villages and to the fields. These paths cross several streams, and pass by a waterfall. Depending on where one leaves the paved road, the walk to the summit can take from a few minutes to up to 3 hours. There are several check points in the area, and local authorities charge a fee from tourists wishing to climb the mountain. Occasionally, a full marathon is organised under auspices of the Togo Leading Athletics Association that includes

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