What species are endemic on Madagascar?

Madagascar is a large island, about 140% of the size of California, off the southeast coast of Africa. The island is famous for the high degree of endemic species (nowhere else). The island contains 5% of animal and plant species on Earth, with 80% endemic on the island. Endemic species on Madagascar include the famous infraser lemur of primates (more than 40 species), carnivorous fossu (related to mongoosis), three families of birds and six Baabab (huge trees with wide stumps). There are so many endemic species in Madagascar that some ecologists called it the "eighth continent".

The most famous types of endemic on Madagascar are lemurs, small primates. Their name is derived from Latin lemures , which means "Spirit of the Night" or "Ghosts". They have long tails, large, reflective eyes and some species have a distinctive lament that had to contribute to their name. The lemurs are unique primates who once lived on the African mainland, but Traveled on Madagascar 18-24 million years ago, long after70 million years ago he tear away from the African mainland. On the African mainland, their ancestors were overcome by monkeys, folk and other primates, but the island of Madagascar has long served as a shrine for them. Once, lemurs existed as large as chimpanzees or even larger than gorillas, but they disappeared in historically recent times due to human colonization.

Another type of endemic on Madagascar is Fossa, a small carnivorous animal, which is currently considered an endangered species, with only about 2,500 mature individuals. Fossa is so rare that it was once considered exclusively night, even though it walked during the day. Agile hunter, fossa can move trees in a similar way to squirrels and anything that can get his paws, including birds, fish, ad small lemurs. Fossas are about two feet in size and are the largest mammalian carnivores on the island.

Tenrecs, a family of small almighty mammals, will primarily find their ownHome in Madagascar, with 30 species found only there and only 3 on the African mainland. They have a variable body form and, as a result of parallel development, they resemble mistakes, hedgehogs and otters, although these groups are not closely associated with. Tenrecs have such a low body temperature that they do not require a scrotum to cool the sperm, as most other mammals require.

There are many other Endemic species for Madagascar, including 14 unique malagasis rodents, 15 species of bats, different chameleons and geckos, more than a hundred birds and hundreds of beetles and other insects. Efforts for protection must be aggressive to maintain this unique Madagascar fauna.