EPOW - Ecology Picture of the Week

The Tallest Termite Mound

Termite Mounds
Lake Baringo, Kenya

Explanation:  I was astounded at finding these skyscrapers of termite mounds along the shores of Lake Baringo in the southern Rift Valley of Kenya, east Africa. 

In the photo on the left, my friend Jim provides scale, from which I calculate that the mound, from ground level to tip, is 21.0 feet (6.4 m) tall!  

In the photo on the right there is a cavity created, and occupied, by a pair of Red-and-Yellow Barbets, which we will feature in a future EPOW.

I don't know what species of termite made these astounding structures, but they are truly ecosystem engineers extraordinaire!

            
  

My thanks to my traveling buddy Jim Harper of HarpTech Consulting for standing in (literally) as the termite mound height gauge.