![]() Lemurs have been characterized as "Madagascar's flagship mammal species" by Conservation International. The island also has a rich invertebrate fauna including earthworms, insects, spiders and nonmarine molluscs. As of 2012 it has over 200 extant mammal species, including over 100 species of lemurs, about 300 species of birds, more than 260 species of reptiles, and at least 266 species of amphibians. Some of Madagascar's animals appear to represent lineages that have been present since the breakup of Gondwana, while many others, including all of the nonflying native mammals, are descendants of ancestors that survived rare rafting or swimming voyages from Africa (likely aided by currents). Madagascar's isolation from other land masses throughout the Cenozoic Era has led to the evolution of a large proportion of endemic animal species and the absence of many taxa found on neighboring continents. Main articles: Fauna of Madagascar, List of amphibians of Madagascar, List of reptiles in Madagascar, List of birds of Madagascar, and List of mammals of Madagascar The silky sifaka is one of over 100 known species and subspecies of lemur found only in Madagascar. As recent as 2021, the "smallest reptile on earth" was also found in Madagascar, Brookesia nana, also known as the nano-chameleon. This distinctive ecology has led some ecologists to refer to Madagascar as the "eighth continent", and the island has been classified by Conservation International as a biodiversity hotspot. Approximately 90 percent of all plant and animal species found in Madagascar are endemic, including the lemurs (a type of strepsirrhine primate), the carnivorous fossa and many birds. Īs 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. Madagascar later split from India about 88 million years ago, allowing plants and animals on the island to evolve in relative isolation. The prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana separated the Madagascar-Antarctica-India landmass from the Africa-South America landmass around 135 million years ago. ![]() The composition of Madagascar's wildlife reflects the fact that the island has been isolated for about 88 million years. A ring-tailed lemur ( Lemur catta), the most familiar of Madagascar's numerous species of lemur.
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