Wildlife of Madagascar

A ring-tailed lemur (*Lemur catta*), the most familiar of Madagascar's numerous species of lemur.

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]

^ University of Berkeley: Understanding Evolution (October 2009). "Where did all of Madagascar's species come from?". Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
^ ^a ^b Conservation International (2007). "Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands". Biodiversity Hotspots. Conservation International. Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
^ Tattersall, Ian (2006). Origin of the Malagasy Strepshirhine Primates. Springer. pp. 1–6. ISBN 0-387-34585-X.
^ Hobbes & Dolan (2008), p. 517
^ Hillstrom & Collier Hillstrom (2003), p. 50
^ "'Smallest reptile on earth' discovered in Madagascar". BBC News. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.

[1] University of Berkeley: Understanding Evolution (October 2009). "Where did all of Madagascar's species come from?". Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.

[CIHotSpot-2] Conservation International (2007). "Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands". Biodiversity Hotspots. Conservation International. Archived from the original on 24 August 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2011.

[tattersall-3] Tattersall, Ian (2006). Origin of the Malagasy Strepshirhine Primates. Springer. pp. 1–6. ISBN 0-387-34585-X.

[4] Hobbes & Dolan (2008), p. 517

[5] Hillstrom & Collier Hillstrom (2003), p. 50

[6] "'Smallest reptile on earth' discovered in Madagascar". BBC News. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.

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