Through the vast hilly area, you will come to the foot of the Sumeru Mountains, here is the highest point of Yingzhou Island, the altitude reaches 2800 meters, the mountain is covered with snow all year round, and it is also the source of fresh water for the whole Yingzhou Island, the highest point of Mount Meru is the crater, and the place below the crater is about 2500 meters above sea level is composed of three pinnacles, which is very peculiar.

The vegetation of the mountains varies significantly vertically, with snow-capped mountains at the top of the pyramid, then the alpine meadow zone, and down the coniferous forests, mixed forests, temperate broad-leaved forests, because of the difference in altitude and climate. On the valley floor and on the low slopes there are a variety of deciduous trees; Among them are linden trees, oak trees, beech trees, aspen trees, elms, chestnuts, rowan trees, birches, maple trees, etc. The higher woods are dominated by conifers, with spruce, larch and other pine trees being the main species. Below the permanent snow line and above the forest line are areas that have been eroded by glaciation; It is covered with lush meadows, and there is a deep lake due to the melting snow.

In terms of animals, there are mainly bighorn sheep, marmots, reindeer, rabbits and other animals.

What surprised Zhu Wei was that a variety of rare creatures were found here, which made Zhu Wei jump straight to his feet excitedly, the Ili pika that only Ili has in the Huaxia continent is a kind of pika, this petite mountain mammal is also the most adorable pika in the world, and the photo of the Ili pika accidentally taken in Huaxia caused a sensation all over the world. In Huaxia, it is estimated that there are less than 1,000, and they were thought to be extinct.

However, growing in this valley is the paradise of this endangered Ili pika. A large area of survival, reproduction and habitat here.

Also spotted were red pandas and chinchillas.

Zhu Wei found this in a valley with bamboo bushes in the mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forests and evergreen broad-leaved forests of Mount Meru, and this cute creature has a brownish-reddish-brown body and bright orange-yellow hair tips on the back of the buttocks. The forehead is light yellowish-brown. The tail ring is reddish-brown and yellowish-white. It looks lazy and very cute.

There are more red pandas in YN and other places, but there are less than 10,000 in the world.

The chinchilla discovered this time, also known as chinchillas, is a general term for the genus of animals of the rodent family Chinchillas. Chinchillas are small and obese in size, with long, fluffy hairs at the end of their tails. The whole body is covered with uniform fluff, and its shape is as dense and soft as silk, so it is named chinchilla. At the same time, it was named Totoro because it resembles the Totoro in the Japanese Miyazaki Jun cartoon.

Chinchillas, while common, are also a high-risk breed and are on the verge of extinction.

But what is different is that the color of the chinchilla found in the Sumeru Mountains is very beautiful, there are golden and blue, as well as cyan, a variety of colors, so Zhu Wei named it Yingzhou chinchilla.

And in the valley down the street, Ju Wei stared at several fat ducks wandering along the bank of the valley. The swaying body movements were extremely funny, and occasionally there was a sound of "dudu" in his mouth, Zhu Wei was stunned for a moment, and said a few words smoothly: "Dodo!" ”

Hurry up and compare with the database, the comparison results came out, Zhu Wei was excited, and silently thought in his heart that it must be a dodo, it must be a dodo, and sure enough, it was really a dodo.

The dodo, also known as the Mauritian dodo, dove and lone pigeon, is a flightless bird found only on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. This bird was completely extinct due to human hunting and human activities only 70 years after its discovery, and it can be said to be the most famous extinct animal after dinosaurs. It is also the only extinct bird in Mauritius to be designated as the national bird.

This animal is fat, cute and stupid, with degraded wings and cannot fly, and does not run fast, so it is really not easy for this population to survive.

The altitude of Mount Meru is not low, there are no snakes, there are no beasts, and the dodo has never had natural enemies, so they are not afraid of Zhu Wei and these humans at all, and when they see a few people going to them, they are cute and sneaking towards Zhu Wei.

Zhu Wei simply took out his phone and took a selfie with them.

It's really interesting, if the news of the dodo is released to the world, it is estimated that the country of Mauritius must be crazy. Countries that have a dodo as their national bird do not even have a single dodo, so it is estimated that they will have to pay a lot of money to buy a dodo from here.

Zhu Wei continued to investigate, and found that there were five or six species of dodos in the valley around Mount Meru, and Zhu Wei divided them into five categories according to their color, but there was no obvious difference except for the color of their coat, their beaks were about 23 centimeters, slightly black, with hooks at the front end, with red spots, very short wings, unable to fly, thick legs, yellow, and a tuft of rolled feathers on the hips; And the dodo is huge, weighing up to 23 kilograms.

They have no natural predators here, and no animal will actively attack the dodo and its eggs, which has led to the island's dodo not become extinct, but has thrived.

"It's so cute, the island is much more interesting than the ships." Hong Xueqi took Zi Ranli's hand vigorously and said excitedly, but Zi Ranli still looked indifferent.

"Let's go, don't bother them yet. Come back to that. ”

And in this valley, Zhu Wei finally saw a few magical trees, and Jia Nanzi said: "Your Majesty, this is the Heaven and Earth Tree." ”

Zhu Wei looked over and saw that the tree grew very tall, reaching forty or fifty meters, with a wide and wide canopy, dense branches and leaves, and it was a large evergreen tree, and there were many fruits on the tree that gradually turned yellow, and the fruits were egg-shaped, each of which was the size of an egg.

"This tree must be the width of a twenty people hugging each other, right?" Zhu Wei sighed. This is a plant from the Mesozoic Era to the present, as the earliest angiosperm, it has existed for three to four hundred million years, and like ginkgo, it is an absolute living fossil.

It's no wonder that there are so many ginkgo trees and pine trees on this island, and it turns out that this is a museum of prehistoric plants.

Zhu Wei was thinking about it, and Jia Nanzi said: "It's a pity that there are only five of these Heaven and Earth Trees on the entire island. ”

Zhu Wei nodded: "I will find a way to protect them." ”

Zhu Wei collected some fruits, leaves, and a small branch of the Heaven and Earth Tree, and planned to go back to study.

The group walked around the river valley for most of the day and found a large number of fossils of dinosaur age creatures, but did not excavate them, because the two days were almost up, and Zhu Wei wanted to rush to the top of Mount Meru, so he gave up the investigation of paleontological fossils.

The mountain was covered with snow, and it was not appropriate to go up the mountain in a jacket, so all three of them changed into combat uniforms, leaving only Jia Nanzi and Xiao Hei, there were no terrible animals in the valley, so Xiao Hei was enough to protect him.

This close-fitting combat suit turned out to be insulated from the cold and heat, so no matter how high the altitude was, I still didn't feel the cold.

With this kind of clothing to keep warm, Zhu Wei and his three friends finally climbed to the highest peak of Mount Meru, the volcanic cone of the Great Crater. Standing here, you can see almost the entire island.

What's Beneath the Crater? Zhu Wei really wanted to explore the crater, and before he climbed it, he imagined many possibilities, maybe it was hot volcanic magma, maybe it was a valley full of vegetation, maybe it was a heavenly pool, but what he didn't expect was that this deep crater with a diameter of tens of meters was bottomless, but it was like a starry sky, blinking his eyes colorfully.

"It's amazing, is there a starry sky in the mountain?"

Zhu Wei inspected the inside of the crater and saw that the blue information box read: "Extinct volcano, with a large number of precious mineral deposits. Zhu Wei was taken aback, called out the VI assistant, and asked to quickly inspect what cherished mineral deposits.