[1] The Pacaraimas are a sandstone plateau underlain by a horizonal precambrian marine strata that arose in post-cretaceous time.

[2] Erosion of the sandstone (the Roraima Supergroup[3]) results in dramatic escarpments, the individual remnants of which are called tepuis.

[5] Difficulty in breaching the steep slopes has made data collection a challenge, however the relative isolation of these flat-topped mountains produces an array of endemic flora with a "great potential for high species diversity".

According to Macushi cosmology, mountains and other landforms were created by mythical creator brothers when they cut down Wayaka, the "tree of life".

These brothers transformed people, animals, and other things into rock formations, thus giving them special mythological origins.