Their descendants underwent dwarfing and evolved into species unique to the island. This distinctive biodiversity is a result of Madagascar's geographic isolation.
Geologists believe that million years ago Madagascar was connected to Africa, but began to drift away from the continent sometime during the next 15 million years. Paleontologists exploring Madagascar's Mesozoic era deposits have found the bones of dinosaurs, early birds and mammals. However, most of the groups of mammals and other terrestrial fauna that are well represented on Madagascar today had not evolved when Madagascar first split from continental Africa.
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 Arrival of Humans People first came to Madagascar in boats about years ago.
The oldest human-modified bones of extinct species appear in the fossil record at this time. Pollen profiles, read from lake sediment cores, reveal the arrival of introduced plants, including marijuana. Archaeologists believe that Madagascar may have been an important stopping point along a trade route that ran from southeast Asia to east Africa. The cultural practices of the Malagasy people reflect their mixed Asiatic and African roots. Evolving into Oblivion When humans first arrived on Madagascar, there were at least 50 lemur species living on the island, the largest of which rivaled the body mass of a male gorilla or orangutan.
Not one of the 33 lemur species that still survive on the island is as large as the smallest of the lemurs that disappeared from Madagascar during the past several millennia.
Along with the giant lemurs, Madagascar was populated by other megafauna that have also since vanished. There were huge tortoises, giant predatory raptors, and pygmy hippopotamuses. There were gigantic flightless birds called elephant birds. These birds were larger than any other birds - living or extinct. Russell A. A primatologist, herpetologist, conservationist and author, he leverages his experience to protect wildlife and wildlands. Opinions expressed in posts featured on the Crossroads blog and in related comments are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect opinions of IUCN or a consensus of its Member organisations.
IUCN reserves the right to remove links added by commenters that are deemed inappropriate or unrelated to blog posts. All Blogs Blog authors directory. Photo: IUCN. Photo: Russell A Mittermeier. Disclaimer Opinions expressed in posts featured on the Crossroads blog and in related comments are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect opinions of IUCN or a consensus of its Member organisations.
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