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By Tom Page, CNN
4 minute read
Published 4:13 AM EDT, Mon June 24, 2024
Mighty baobabs silhouetted against a sunset at Baobab Alley in Morondava, Madagascar. The iconic trees are far from the only stunning native species to call the world’s fourth largest island home. Scroll through the gallery to discover more…
The ring-tailed lemur is perhaps Madagascar’s best-known endemic species. The distinctive rings aren’t the only way these creatures stand out: scientists have discovered males release a fruity and floral pheromone from their wrists during mating season. The mammal is categorized as endangered by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Madagascar is home to 107 lemur species, with 103 threatened with extinction and 33 species critically endangered, per a 2020 assessment.
Tomato frogs are so called because of their round shape and distinctive warm colors. Females are usually slightly bigger, and bright red or orange, and males yellow or orange. Unlike tomatoes, these rainforest-dwellers are far from tasty: the frogs secrete a toxic liquid from their skin, and can also inflate themselves, to put off potential predators.
The yellow-bellied sunbird-asity is found at altitude in shrubland and forests in the east and north of Madagascar. The small bird has a distinctive curved bill to feed on nectar, and males are usually more brightly colored than females.
Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur is the world’s smallest primate, weighing approximately one ounce (35 grams) and measuring around 3.5 inches long. It’s a critically endangered species according to the IUCN, living in pockets of dry forest in west Madagascar threatened by slash and burn farming and tree felling. The mouse lemur’s population was estimated to be no more than 8,000 adults in 2005, and numbers are decreasing. Unless deforestation is curbed, the IUCN believes it could be “lost before 2030.”
The critically endangered radiated tortoise lives at the southern tip of Madagascar, grazing on prickly pears. They can weigh up to 35 pounds (16 kilograms) and live up to 50 years. Even by tortoise standards it has a beautiful shell, with a distinctive geometric pattern featuring radiated yellow lines, which gives it its name. It has nerves in its shell, so it can feel when it’s touched.
The panther chameleon is a master of disguise that calls the north and east of the island its home. More chameleon species live in Madagascar than anywhere in the world, but deforestation and the illegal pet trade is impacting the panther chameleon population.
Malagasy tree boas can grow up to 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) and are ovoviviparous, meaning females grow eggs inside their bodies and produce young that are born fully formed. They live off a diet of rodents and birds and hunt at night, using heat-detecting sensors around their mouth to find their prey.
The fossa is the largest carnivorous mammal stalking the forests of Madagascar, growing six feet from nose to tail. A strong climber, this apex predator has lethal claws and teeth capable of taking down lemurs and other prey. Known for their unusual and lengthy mating ritual, the fossa was once categorized as a member of the cat family, but today it is classified as a member of Eupleridae, a family of carnivores specifically from Madagascar.
The young Madagascar owl (pictured) has a distinctive white down with black eyes. When it reaches adulthood, it has a brown plumage with darker streaks and long tufted ears, surviving on a diet of small lemurs, rodents, frogs, bats, lizards and insects.
The aye-aye is a relic of a group of primates all but gone from Earth. Fossils of members of the Daubentoniidae family have been found in Egypt and Kenya, but the Madagascan aye-aye is the only species still alive. To some, it is considered an omen of bad luck, which has unfortunately led to them being killed by humans in the past. The aye-aye lives in the rainforest and has a distinct long, slender third finger on its hands. It takes said finger and taps on trees, listening for insect larvae inside, then uses it to extract them.
Sunset moths are day moths renowned for their vivid iridescent colors. Once mistaken for a butterfly, it has been prized by collectors for centuries. Its main food is a type of euphorbia plant dispersed by lemurs – an example, says the IUCN, of how protecting one animal can have a positive effect on others.
The lowland streaked tenrec is part of a group of mammals endemic to Madagascar. Floor-dwelling tenrecs are often preyed upon by fossas and other animals, but this species makes it hard work for predators. It will raise its long spines and jump at predators in attempt to scare them off, giving them a reputation as angry little critters. The same spines on its lower back can also rub together to create a high-pitched buzzing sound, which biologists think they use to communicate with their young.
The Satanic leaf-tailed gecko, owner of a wonderfully self-explanatory name, lives in the highland rainforests of Madagascar. It uses its tail as camouflage to avoid snakes and birds, but that’s not its only treelike feature: it also has twig-shaped limbs, and skin colors resembling mottled leaves and lichen.
The wonders of Madagascar
CNN —
For millions of years, mighty baobabs have been standing sentry on three different landmasses, posing each other an existential question: Who came first?
The giant trees, swollen of trunk and stubby of canopy, are unmistakable. Baobabs can live for more than 1,000 years, acting as the keystone species in dry forest environments in Madagascar, a swathe of continental Africa, and northwest Australia. Known as “mother of the forest” and “the tree of life,” nearly every part of the tree can be used by humans and animals, meaning they’re of enormous value to each ecosystem they inhabit.
Their reputation has only been burnished by the mystery as to where they originated. Until now, science has had to make do with multiple conflicting hypotheses – the dominant theory being that they came from mainland Africa. Not so, according to a study published last month in the journal Nature. A team of international academics successfully sequenced the genomes of each of the eight baobab species, examining their relationship with one another and concluded that they originated in Madagascar.
The news comes as the trees face a precipitous decline on the island, home to six baobab species, with one likely to become extinct by 2080 according to the study, unless significant interventions are put in place.
Biologists had struggled to determine the tree’s origins, as no fossils of ancient baobabs or their ancestors have been discovered, explained Dr. Wan Jun-Nan, one of the authors of the study, a researcher at the Wuhan Botanical Garden in Hubei, China. What genetic data had been retrieved from baobabs in previous studies was limited, he continued. But with the first full genome sequence of each species, “we can tell a good story about the evolutionary history,” he argued.
That story begins with the rise of baobabs in Madagascar around 21 million years ago, before the genus (scientific name Adansonia) began to diversify, and two species made their way to Africa and Australia around 12 million years ago. This occurred well after the separation of the “supercontinent” Gondwana, so the baobab is likely to have spread through seeds carried across the ocean on floating debris caused by flash floods, according to the researchers.
The study, a collaboration between Wuhan Botanical Gardens, China, the Royal Botanic Gardens in the UK, the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar and Queen Mary University of London, was also able to trace the interspecies gene flow of the eight types of baobab for the first time. This data, which demonstrated low genetic diversity between two species, and inbreeding of one species with another more populous species, offers insights into the competition between baobabs today, said Dr. Wan, and could help protect the trees of tomorrow.
“We hope that in the future, the people of Madagascar can take care of baobabs (by) considering them as different species, not as a whole,” he added.
"Avenue of the Baobabs" in Western Madagascar is one of the most spectacular collections of the unusual trees.
Only one baobab species is not included in the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species: A. digitata, which populates mainland Africa. Three species in Madagascar are threatened with extinction, and the study recommended the IUCN recategorize one, A. suarezensis, from “endangered” to “critically endangered.” Climate modeling indicated the species could become extinct within 50 years without greater intervention.
That prediction is “plausible” and “highlights the urgent need for action,” according to Dr. Seheno Andriantsaralaza, a tropical ecologist working in Madagascar.
Dr. Andriantsaralaza, who was not involved in the research, supported the call to update the IUCN status of certain Malagasy baobabs. Though she described the study as “fantastic and meaningful,” yielding “valuable” genetic data insights, she cautioned that it represented“just one piece of the puzzle in understanding the evolutionary history and dispersal mechanisms of these iconic giant trees.”
The study’s modeling concluded the range of baobab species has been reducing on the island for millennia, with human-caused climate change and ongoing deforestation exacerbating the shrinkage and fragmentation of baobab populations in recent decades.
Dr. Andriantsaralaza said “it’s crucial to recognize that amidst the challenges, there are local success stories and initiatives led by local organizations and local researchers.”
She cited conservation group Madagasikara Voakajy, which coordinates projects on the north of the island that have focused on protecting A. perrieriandA. suarezensis. Also PEER, a USAID-backed program she is involved in, aims to empower locals to contribute to the sustainable management of the ecosystem.
“Madagascar’s baobab forests belong to the local communities that rely on natural resources to feed their families,” she added. “They should be part of the solution, not the problem.”
Dr. Wan said he hoped the research and media attention would prompt further conservation efforts of the island’s baobabs.
While hailing the breakthrough, he acknowledged the study’s limitations – only one individual per species was sequenced – though hoped future research would expand sampling and answer further outstanding questions about the trees.
The likelihood of finding fossil evidence to rubberstamp the conclusions of the genetic data is slim, Dr. Wan conceded. So perhaps these majestic trees may retain some of their mystery after all.
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