Fossa, the largest carnivore on the island of Madagascar.
Aye-Aye, SIFAKA-SEDOSO and Tomato Frog were born thanks to the isolation and special conditions of the African island. But Madagascar’s so special wildlife faces a future full of uncertainties.
The strangest and most unusual animals on the planet are on an island, off the east coast of Africa. In 1314 species of native terrestrial and freshwater vertebrates of Madagascar, up to 90% exist nowhere on Earth.
All terrestrial mammals (excluding bats) and amphibians are exclusive to the island, as well as 56% of birds, 81% of freshwater fish, 95% of mammals and 98% of reptiles.
But what is due to this unique diversity and exclusivity?
It is largely due to long island isolation. Formerly part of the Gondwana Supercontinent, Madagascar separated from Africa about 160 million years ago and walked away after the Indian subcontinent between 90 and 66 million years ago.
Since then, he has remained isolated by the Mozambique Canal and has become an evolutionary laboratory, where species are shaped by very particular environments and pressures.
Among the most fascinating Malgaxes creatures is what we see in the image above, the fossaa predatory mammal that resembles a small puma, but is closer to the mangusto and the civet.
The unsettling life-lifethe world’s largest night primate uses its elongated finger to hit the trunks in search of insects. We only found him at Madagascar. The rare We are in a doseIt is a white, as snow is one of the rarest mammals in the world and is among the 25 most threatened primates on the planet.
O Anelada-of-Lémurevery famous thanks to the Madagascar animation movie saga, it is the biggest glimpse of how the island is a very special place for animal life.
Anelada-of-Lémure
But it’s not just mammals that are special. Reptiles and insects are not behind the island, which has species such as Osga-satanic-cashew or the maid-of-maid, or the SAPO TOMATE.
Historically, the island also welcomed giants like the AVE-EEFANTEone of the victims of extinction. And today, the heritage of fragility still lives on the island.
A study in July this year, quoted by, identified Madagascar as the country with the largest number of species in critical extinction – 670, in total, of which 98.7% do not exist anywhere else.
The isolation that made Madagascar in this single home now said the eternal end to many of the species that only exist here if they have developed.
And of course, human occupation, deforestation, industrial activity, invasive species, conflicts, diseases and climate change intensify pressures on ecosystems shaped over millions of years.
