Madagascar is a large island off the southeast coast of Africa, known for its high rate of endemic species. It contains 5% of the world’s animal and plant species, with 80% being endemic. Famous species include lemurs, fossas, and tenrecs, with many others in need of conservation efforts.
Madagascar is a large island, about 140% the size of California, off the southeast coast of Africa. The island is renowned for its high rate of endemic species (not found anywhere else). The island contains 5% of the animal and plant species on Earth, with 80% being endemic to the island. Species endemic to Madagascar include the famous primate lemur infraorder (over 40 species), the carnivorous fossa (related to mongooses), three families of birds, and six species of boababs (huge trees with broad stumps). There are so many endemic species to Madagascar that some ecologists have called it “the eighth continent”.
The most famous endemic species of Madagascar are lemurs, small primates. Their name comes from the Latin lemures, which means “spirit of the night” or “ghosts”. They have long tails, large, reflective eyes, and some species have a distinctive wail, which must have contributed to their name. Lemurs are unique primates that once lived on the African mainland but traveled to Madagascar 18-24 million years ago, long after it broke away from the African mainland 70 million years ago. On the African mainland, their ancestors were overtaken by monkeys, primates and other primates, but the island of Madagascar has long been a sanctuary for them. There were once lemurs as big as chimpanzees or even bigger than gorillas, but these have become extinct in historically recent times due to human colonization.
Another species endemic to Madagascar is the fossa, a small carnivorous animal that is currently considered an endangered species, with only about 2,500 mature individuals extant. The fossa is so rare that it was once thought to be exclusively nocturnal, even if it walks during the day. An agile hunter, the fossa can move through trees similar to squirrels and eat anything it can get its paws on, including birds, fish, and small lemurs. Pits are about two feet in size and are the largest mammalian carnivores on the island.
Tenrecs, a family of small omnivorous mammals, mostly find their home in Madagascar, with 30 species found there alone and only 3 on the African mainland. They have a variable body shape and have become similar to shrews, hedgehogs and otters as a result of parallel evolution, although they are not closely related to these groups. Tenrecs have such a low body temperature that they don’t need a scrotum to cool their sperm, as most other mammals require.
There are numerous other species endemic to Madagascar, including 14 unique Malagasy rodents, 15 bat species, various chameleons and geckos, over a hundred birds, and hundreds of beetles and other insects. Conservation efforts must proceed aggressively to preserve this unique Madagascar fauna.
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