Madagascar Animals

The composition of Madagascar's wildlife reflects the fact that the island has been isolated for about 88 million years. The prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana separated the Madagascar-Antarctica-India landmass from the Africa-South America landmass around 135 million years ago. Madagascar later split from India about 88 million years ago, allowing plants and animals on the island to evolve in relative isolation.[1]

As a result of the island's long isolation from neighboring continents, Madagascar is home to an abundance of plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth.[2][3] Approximately 90 percent of all plant and animal species found in Madagascar are endemic,[4] including the lemurs (a type of strepsirrhine primate), the carnivorous fossa and many birds. This distinctive ecology has led some ecologists to refer to Madagascar as the "eighth continent",[5] and the island has been classified by Conservation International as a biodiversity hotspot.[2] As recent as 2021, the "smallest reptile on earth" was also found in Madagascar, Brookesia nana, also known as the nano-chameleon.[6]

Madagascar Animals

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Madagascar's isolation from other land masses throughout the Cenozoic Era has led to the evolution of a large proportion of endemic animal species and the absence of many taxa found on neighboring continents. Some of Madagascar's animals appear to represent lineages that have been present since the breakup of Gondwana, while many others, including all of the nonflying native mammals, are descendants of ancestors that survived rare rafting or swimming voyages from Africa (likely aided by currents).[8][9] As of 2012 it has over 200 extant mammal species, including over 100 species of lemurs, about 300 species of birds, more than 260 species of reptiles, and at least 266 species of amphibians. The island also has a rich invertebrate fauna including earthworms, insects, spiders and nonmarine molluscs.

For the first time, this new research presents a comprehensive theory explaining how so many animals came to be limited to such small geographic areas across the island, which lies off the eastern coast of Africa. In some lowland areas of the island these animals tended to be isolated by the configuration of certain watersheds, and this isolation led to speciation, the evolution of new species.

Madagascar is home to some of the unique and unusual species of wildlife in the whole world. The island of Madagascar is home to almost 25,000 species of wild animals with a good number being endangered species. Some of these species of wildlife have been immortalized by cartoon films, but the real animals are far more beautiful and wonderful than what is seen in any of these movies. Most of these species found in Madagascar are endemic, meaning they cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Here is a list of some of the most magnificent animals that live in Madagascar.

Lemurs are primates that look like an animal in between a dog, a cat and a squirrel that have incredibly unique and exciting behaviors that include singing like a whale. There are more than thirty species of lemurs in Madagascar today that vary in size from 25 gms pygmy lemur to the largest Indri Lemur weighing more than 12 kgs. Lemurs are one of the most threatened animals in the whole planet and according to IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 22 species of lemurs are critically endangered, 48 are endangered, while 20 are vulnerable.

Scientifically known as Mantella madagascariensis, the painted mantella is an attractive frog with green, black, yellow or orange color. The species which is grouped under common frogs is found only in East and Central Madagascar. They inhabit rainforest bordering the fresh water streams. Painted mantilla can tolerate moderate temperature between 75 to 81 degrees F during the day and slightly lower during the night. The painted mantella is a carnivore feeding mainly on insects. The frogs are active during the day and mostly establish small territories. The bright color on the body makes it more toxic and acts as a warning for any predator in the surrounding.

Lesser Madagascar tenrecs, also called lesser hedgehog tenrecs, are small, nocturnal animals covered in spines. Though sometimes confused with hedgehogs, lesser tenrecs are actually members of a different order.

Different habitat types found on this island include deserts, tropical dry forests, rainforests, dry deciduous forests, savannas, and coastal areas. All the animals, birds, and insects have adapted to their respective habitat; with such varied environment, it is natural to have such rich wildlife.

These Animal Ambassadors may visit you when you book a custom animal experience with the ZOOMobile. Our EdVenture keepers bring live animals to engage your classrooms, birthdays, community gatherings, seniors, special events and more. The ZOOMobile visits groups throughout the Pikes Peak region and beyond.

7. Snakes of the bizarre genus 'Langaha' are among the island's many impressive endemic creepy-crawlies. In the very distinctive Madagascar spear-nosed snake (L, madagascariensis), males are yellow and tan, with a spear-shaped nasal appendage. .

Interspecific competition has been suggested to influence the biogeographic distribution patterns of species. A high competitive potential could entail species-specific advantages during resource acquisition that could translate into a higher potential for range expansion. We investigated whether differences in the competitive potential of the morphologically similar and partially sympatric gray mouse lemur (Microcebus murinus) and golden-brown mouse lemur (Microcebus ravelobensis) may help to explain differences in their geographic range sizes. We carried out encounter experiments with 14 pairs of captured female mouse lemurs of both species. The experimental dyads were tested in a two-cage arrangement, with individuals being separated from each other outside the experiments. Two days of habituation and four subsequent days of 1-h encounter experiments were conducted, before releasing the animals again in the wild. In general, the M. murinus individuals won significantly more conflicts than their partners. In eight of 14 tested pairs, there was a significant species bias in winning conflicts, and in 87.5% of these dyads, M. murinus was the "dyad winner". A high competitive potential did not depend on body mass. Furthermore, "dyad winners" spent more time feeding (P < 0.05) and were less spatially restricted than "dyad losers". To conclude, our results suggest that the widely distributed M. murinus may indeed have a higher competitive potential than the regional endemic M. ravelobensis, which may, among other possible factors, have enabled this species to expand geographically, despite the presence of other competing congeners.

While it seems improbable for animals to survive the roughly 30 to 35 days it would have taken to get across the Mozambique Channel, the vegetation may have held fruits or other food sources, as well as trapped rain to keep the animals alive.

Scientists have three major theories to explain how land animals got to Madagascar: The species were there before Madagascar split off and became an island, they swam and/or rafted across from mainland Africa when currents flowed that way, or they crossed land bridges that might have existed at different periods.

One weakness of the land-bridge theory is that today only four major groups of mammals live in Madagascar. These animals are distantly related to mammals in mainland Africa, and they are all relatively small.

The findings suggest that immediate conservation efforts are needed to avoid long-lasting biodiversity losses, including programs that include socio-economic improvements for local human populations, reducing forest loss in the remaining natural habitats and limiting artisanal and commercial resource exploitation, such as of hardwoods and animals for the bushmeat trade, the scientists said.

January 20, 2010. How did the lemurs, flying foxes and narrow-striped mongooses get to the large, isolated island of Madagascar sometime after 65 million years ago? A pair of scientists say their research confirms the longstanding idea that the animals hitched rides on natural rafts blown out to sea. Read the full story here.

Most animals avoid people, but they may attack if they feel threatened, are protecting their young or territory, or if they are injured or ill. Animal bites and scratches can lead to serious diseases such as rabies.

Ring-tailed lemurs live in the south and southwest of Madagscar and are very social animals. This makes them easy to view in their natural environment. With their funny appearance, they are very nice animals to look at.

Concluding

Madagascar is very easy to travel with children, so it is quite possible to look up the animals from the film for real. In this way, you can use the film to introduce your children to these animal species in a playful way.

Madagascar is unusual not only for its endemic species, but also for the species that are conspicuously absent. Because of Madagascar's geographic isolation, many groups of plants and animals are entirely absent from the island. Some groups are represented only by species very recently introduced by humans. Missing on the island are the many species of large mammals  antelopes, elephants, zebras, camels, giraffes, hyenas, lions and cheetahs  that roam continental Africa today. The only large African mammal that made it to Madagascar prior to the arrival of humans several thousand years ago was the hippopotamus. Hippos, similar to those that occupy the Nile River basin today, apparently swam to Madagascar sometime during the Tertiary era. Their descendants underwent dwarfing and evolved into species unique to the island.

It is believed that the ancestors of these animals (including at least one species of primitive primates) arrived on this great island after having crossed large expanses of ocean by rafting on floating logs or matted vegetation. The subsequent adaptive radiation of these taxonomic groups is what makes Madagascar so special. The animal and plant life of this great island is largely the result of a natural experiment in evolution on a land apart, but very much like our own. e24fc04721