Wildlife of Madagascar

A brief introduction to Madagascar 8 About this book 9 Map of Madagascar showing biogeographic zones and most visited natural sites 10 Biogeographic zones of Madagascar 12 How to use this book 26 MAMMALS 30 CHEIROGALEIDAE: Mouse lemurs 32 Dwarf lemurs 34 Giant mouse and fork-marked lemurs 36 LEPILEMURIDAE: Sportive lemurs 38 LEMURIDAE: Bamboo lemurs 40 Ring-tailed Lemur 44 Northern brown lemurs 46 Widespread brown lemurs 48 Distinctive Eulemur species of the north and west 50 Ruffed lemurs 52 Woolly lemurs 54 INDRIIDAE: Western sifakas 56 Eastern sifakas 58 Local sifakas 60 Indri 62 DAUBENTONIIDAE: Aye-aye 64 EUPLERIDAE: Malagasy carnivorans 66 Fosa 68 CHIROPTERA: Bats 70 TENRECIDAE: Tenrecs 74 NESOMYIDAE: Rodents 78 CETACEA: Marine mammals 80 BIRDS 82 Ducks and grebes 84 Gamebirds 86 Herons 88 White egrets 92 Compact herons and Hamerkop 94 Larger raptors 98 Smaller raptors 100 Shy birds of the forest floor 102 Rails and jacana 104 Plovers 106 Smaller, plainer sandpipers 110 Larger, more distinctive sandpipers 112 Endemic pigeons 114 Aquatic oddities 114 Terns 116 Birds of the sea 118 Doves and pigeons 120 Endemic pigeons 122 Parrots 124 Cuckoos 126 Couas of the dry west & southwest 128 Couas of the wet east & north 130 Owls 132 Nightjars 134 Aerial feeders 136 Kingfishers and bee-eater 138 Hoopoe and roller 140 More common rainforest ground-rollers 142 Scarcer rainforest ground-rollers 144 Long-tailed Ground-roller and Cuckoo-roller 146 Asities 148 Common open-country birds 150 Widespread songbirds 152 Robin-like birds 154 Warblers that live close to the ground 156 Forest canopy warblers 160 Bernierids 162 Sunbirds and white-eye 164 Common and widespread vangas 166 Typical vangas 168 Strange vangas 170 Large vangas 172 Dark-headed vangas and cuckoo-shrike 174 Mid-sized dark birds 176 Weavers 178 REPTILES 180 Tortoises and terrapins 182 Sea turtles and crocodile 184 Tiny leaf chameleons of the north 186 Widespread medium to large leaf chameleons 188 The largest chameleons on earth 190 Common chameleons of degraded areas 192 Eastern rainforest chameleons: small 194 Eastern rainforest chameleons: medium to large 196 Chameleons of the north 200 Chameleons of the west 204 Swifts I: west and southwest 208 Swifts II: rock-dwelling swifts of the southwest 210 Plated lizards I: species without strong stripes on back 212 Plated lizards II: species with strong stripes on back 214 Skinks I 216 Widespread day geckos 220 Day geckos of the north 222 Day geckos of the west, south and centre 224 Dwarf geckos 226 Small nocturnal geckos 228 Large nocturnal geckos 230 Leaf-tailed geckos I: leaf-like and dry bark-like species 232 Leaf-tailed geckos II: mossy bark-like species 234 Malagasy boas 238 Distinctive snakes 240 Common and widespread snakes 242 Rainforest snakes 244 FROGS 246 Ridged frog and reed frogs 248 Distinctive terrestrial microhylids 250 Arboreal microhylids252 Mantellas I: species with orange 254 Mantellas II: green-and-black species 256 Small to medium bright-eyed frogs 258 Medium to large bright-eyed frogs 262 Various arboreal mantellids 266 Various terrestrial mantellids 268 Bridge frogs 270 Madagascar frogs: plain species 274 Madagascar frogs: more distinctive species 278 INVERTEBRATES Invertebrates: distinctive species 282 Butterflies: swallowtails 286 Butterflies: pierids 292 Butterflies: metalmarks and lycanids 396 Butterflies: orange nymphalids 398 Butterflies: various nymphalids (emperors, commodore and pansy) 304 Butterflies: pansies 306 Butterflies: black-and-white nymphalids 308 Butterflies: satyrs 312 Butterflies: skippers, and moths 314 PLANTS Iconic plants 316 Baobabs 320 Glossary of terms 324 Further reading and useful resources 327 Acknowledgements and photo credits 328 Index 332