Rocky Mountains or Rockies
Rocky Mountains or Rockies, great chain of rugged mountain ranges in western North America, extending from central New Mexico to northeastern British Columbia, a distance of about 3220 km (about 2000 mi). The Great Basin and the Rocky Mountain Trench, a valley running from northwestern Montana to northern British Columbia, border the Rockies on the east by the Great Plains and on the west. The Rocky Mountains form part of the Great, or Continental, Divide, which separates rivers draining into the Atlantic or Arctic oceans from those flowing toward the Pacific Ocean. The Arkansas, Colorado, Columbia, Missouri, Rio Grande, Saskatchewan, and Snake rivers rise in the Rockies.The Rockies may be divided into four principal sections-Southern, Central, Northern, and Canadian. The Southern Rockies, which include the system's broadest and highest regions, extend from central New Mexico, through Colorado, to the Great Divide, or Wyoming, Basin, in southern Wyoming. This section, which encompasses Rocky Mountain National Park, is composed chiefly of two northern-southern belts of mountain ranges with several basins, or parks, between the belts. The component parts include the Sanger de Crisco and Laramie mountains and the Front Range, in
Both sexes have black horns, which contrast with the yellowish-white, shaggy hair covering the entire body, and a beardlike tuft of hair underneath the chin. Sawatch Range, mountain range, central Colorado, a branch of the Rocky Mountains. Slopes generally are very steep, and there are numerous glaciers. Much of the river basin is heavily wooded, and forest-products industries dominate the economy of the settlements along the river. Solitaire was also the name of an extinct, flightless bird resembling the dodo. As highly popular game birds, grouse have been intensively studied. Mountain goats live in regions of heavy snowfall and tend to inhabit localities with many crags and cliffs. Sangre de Cristo Mountains, mountain range, western United States, the southernmost range of the Rocky Mountains, in south central Colorado and north central New Mexico. In North America the best-known species are the rose-breasted grosbeak, of the east, and its western counterpart, the black-headed grosbeak. Grouse, common name for 17 species of birds of the pheasant family, found around the world in the northern hemisphere; two of the three species of ptarmigan inhabit both the Americas and Eurasia. Except for a large northern bend in Kansas, the Arkansas River follows a southeastern course, merging with the Mississippi River above Arkansas City, Arkansas. The latter, an inhabitant of sagebrush areas, especially in the Great Basin, is the largest American grouse. Long known but untapped because of high extraction costs, the deposits are now mined using new technology and efficient methods. Two species of prairie chicken, the closely related sharp-tailed grouse, and the sage grouse, dwell in open country. Guadalupe Peak (2667 m/8749 ft above sea level), the highest in the chain, is in Texas.
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