inselberg

An isolated, steep-sided rock hill or mountain rising abruptly from a flat surrounding plain — literally an "island mountain." Inselbergs are residual landforms: the last resistant remnants of rock standing after everything around them has been eroded to flatness. Uluru (Ayers Rock) is the most famous. They are found in tropical, subtropical, and arid regions worldwide, and their steep flanks and summit isolation often support plant and animal communities found nowhere else in the surrounding landscape.