INTRODUCTION 15Guatemala. The intermontaine basins and plateaus formed by the northern chain—
for instance, San Cristobal (Chiapas), Sacapulas (Guatemala)—are few in number and
small (Figure A.6). The southern chain, volcanic in origin, begins with the Sierra Madre
of Chiapas, continues southeastward as the Los Altos of Guatemala and the mountains
of eastern Guatemala, Honduras, and northern Nicaragua. This southern chain pro-
vides the structural framework for numerous basins, valleys, and plateaus such as in
Quezaltenango, Quiché, Guatemala, and Comayagua (the first three in Guatemala, the
last in Honduras). In El Salvador and Nicaragua the southern volcanic chain is located
in a transisthmian depression, and as a result the basins and valleys there are either low
(for instance, Zapotitlán and San Salvador in El Salvador) or occupied by freshwater
lakes (lakes Managua and Nicaragua in Nicaragua).
Most of the Southern Highlands fall into the Tierra Templada zone, although
there is a small zone of Tierra Fría in Chiapas and western Guatemala. The high-
lands subzones are mostly subhumid, with fringes of humid pockets and a few arid
river valleys (Grijalva in Chiapas, Motagua in Guatemala, and Catacamas in Hon-
duras). In the western parts of the Southern Highlands, there is a distinct dry
period (December through April), whereas in eastern parts rainfall tends to occur
year-round.
Natural vegetation in the Southern Highlands mainly consists of mountain for-
est, typically made up of oaks and pines. Nearctic animals are less common in this area
than in the Northern Highlands, whereas neotropical animals (tapirs, monkeys, etc.)
are more common. Some bright-feathered trogan birds are found exclusively in the
Southern Highlands, notably the quetzal.
Figure A.6 Highland mountains and valleys in Guatemala. Photograph by the authors of
the text.