Madagascar : Activities - Wildlife
Madagascar's unique evolutionary path has produced an immeasurable contribution to the world's biodiversity-more than 80 percent of the flora and fauna are endemic.
There is not one poisonous or deadly species
to be found on Madagascar.
- Lemurs, with fox-like faces and opposable thumbs, evolved some 50 to 60 million years ago and were once widespread around the globe. Small numbers of lemurs arrived on the island of Madagascar soon after that, possibly by rafting across the ocean on floating vegetation. Lemurs prospered and evolved to present-day species on Madagascar and its satellite islands. Elsewhere in the world, lemurs were supplanted by the later evolution of more advanced primates - the monkeys.
- There are 93 lemur species in Madagascar currently identified, including the red-ruffed lemur, black-and-white ruffed lemur, indri (the largest), mouse lemurs (the smallest), and silky sifaka (known for its rattling calls to warn of aerial predators).
- Madagascar provides habitat for 283 bird species (more than 100 are endemic), 12,000 vascular plant species (of which more than 90 percent are endemic), more than 300 amphibian species (about 99 percent of which are endemic), 346 reptiles species (of which 90 percent are endemic), and 30 bat species (18 are endemic).
- Fishes found in the Malagasy region's crater lakes are considered "living fossils" because they belong to the most primitive of catfish, herrings, cichlids, killies, silversides, and their allied species.
- More than half of Madagascar's floral biodiversity can be found in the Greater Makira/Masoala/Antongil Bay (MaMaBay) landscape, in the northeastern region of the country. Masoala National Park harbors the critically endangered Madagascar serpent eagle, which was until fairly recently believed to be extinct. The forests of MaMabay also abound with chameleons and geckos, as well as several species of butterflies and fish that have only recently been discovered.