Shining like a diamond: A new species of diamond frog from northern Madagascar

Date: June 16, 2020

Source: Pensoft Publishers

Despite the active ongoing taxonomic progress on Madagascar's frogs, the amphibian inventory of this hyper-diverse island is still very far from being complete. The known diversity of the diamond frog genus Rhombophryne in Madagascar has increased significantly (more than doubled!) over the last 10 years, but still there are several undescribed candidate species awaiting description. New species are constantly being discovered in Madagascar, often even within already well-studied areas. One such place is the Montagne d'Ambre National Park in northern Madagascar.

Montagne d'Ambre National Park is widely known for its endemic flora and fauna, waterfalls and crater lakes, and considered to be a relatively well-studied area. Yet, only two studies have been published so far on the reptiles and amphibians of the Park.

Serving the pursuit of knowledge of the herpetofauna in the region, Germany-based herpetologist Dr. Mark D. Scherz (Bavarian State Collection of Zoology, Technical University of Braunschweig, University of Konstanz) published a description of a new diamond frog species: Rhombophryne ellae, in the open-access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution.

"As soon as I saw this frog, I knew it was a new species," shares Dr. Scherz, "The orange flash-markings on the legs and the large black spots on the hip made it immediately obvious to me. During my Master's and PhD research, I studied this genus and described several species, and there are no described species with such orange legs, and only few species have these black markings on the hip. It's rare that we find a frog and are immediately able to recognise that it is a new species without having to wait for the DNA sequence results to come back, so this was elating."

Read more

THE RISE OF THE TORTOISE MAFIA (Madagascar) - via Herp Digest

by  AARON GEKOSKI

National Geographic Traveler

‘Tortoises make people smile,’ Dr Christina Castellano explains. Christina, a member of US conservation group The Orianne Society, is a self-confessed tortoise nut who has been studying them for the last 15 years. She’s hit the nail on the head: tortoises take us to a happy place. Perhaps it’s their unhurried and simple way of life – they graze, they sleep, they fornicate. Very. Slowly. And if this all becomes a bit too much for them, they retreat into their shells and hide. I’d like to come back as a tortoise. If only their future didn’t look so grim.

I was in Madagascar, Africa’s tortoise hot spot, to investigate the crises facing these unique reptiles. Scientists believe Madagascar’s tortoises are experiencing unparalleled declines; of the country’s five endemic species, all are critically endangered. Populations of radiated tortoises have, for example, decreased by around 50% in the past 10 years alone. 

Several complex factors are contributing to this demise. Years of extreme drought have sucked the moisture from these once lush plains. Madagascar’s remaining forests are being systematically cleared for the charcoal and rice industries, and for cattle pasturage. It is estimated that less than 10% of its original forest, the tortoise’s natural habitat, remains. And although protected under Malagasy law, tortoise meat is increasingly offered as ‘the special’ in restaurants throughout the country.

But perhaps the greatest threat facing the species is an all too familiar one: poaching. Madagascar’s tortoises are being shipped by their shell-loads to Asia, the hub of the exotic pet trade. Here, they are then re-exported to collectors around the world. Less fortunate tortoises are sold on markets, their body parts used to create aphrodisiacs. Tortoise smuggling is huge business in Madagascar; it is whispered that government officials are involved in the trade. The industry is controlled by a ‘Mr Big’, an Asian businessman based in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital city. His name is not widely circulated as he has a reputation for brutality. ‘The tortoise-smuggling industry is getting out of hand. It’s a hugely worrying situation,’ Herilala Randriamahazo of the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) in Madagascar told me. Herilala proceeded to explain how armed poachers are invading villages and wiping out tortoises. One recent battle left a poacher, and the village king’s son, dead.

 Given that most Malagasy live on less than R16 a day, the monies involved are astronomical. A large ploughshare tortoise can fetch up to R300 000 on the black market. This demand has reduced their numbers to less than 600, rendering them the world’s rarest tortoise.

Madagascar is made up of 18 tribes – some eat tortoises, some don’t. To the latter, consuming tortoises is a fady (taboo) that has protected tortoises for centuries. Recent years, however, have seen an increase of tortoise eaters. ‘These people poach tortoises, eat them, and send their dried meat to other villages without anyone standing in their way, and often even with a little bit of help,’ says Christina. In the village of Tsiombe, a hot spot for tortoise consumption, the head of the local police force claims to be fighting a losing battle and tortoise shells litter a dump just metres from his office. Enforcing the law remains a major challenge here: what he requires is funding for a vehicle to pursue the poachers.

Incentivising locals to save tortoises is another solution the TSA is exploring. In recognition of one village’s efforts to protect radiated tortoises, the TSA is funding the construction of a school. It’s hoped that news will spread of the project, prompting other communities to work together against the poachers. Unless people change their behaviour soon, these animals will go the way of Madagascar’s giant lemur and elephant bird.

It may not be too late for Madagascar’s tortoises. A desire exists to turn the situation around and populations of certain species of tortoise are still healthy enough for us save them. Just. Let’s hope that the efforts of locals, the police and conservationists are successful. There aren’t many animals that make us smile like tortoises do.

Study finds severely disturbed habitats have impacted health of Madagascar's critically endangered lemurs

JULY 10, 2019

by Tom Parisi, Northern Illinois University

A new study led by Mitch Irwin and Karen Samonds of Northern Illinois University finds that degraded rainforest habitats are having an unhealthy impact on at least one species of Madagascar's treasured lemurs, the most endangered mammal group in the world.

Irwin, Samonds and other research team members captured, measured and released 113 critically endangered diademed sifakas over the course of 19 years. They then compared the health of the animals living in intact continuous rainforest versus those in habitats disturbed and fragmented by human encroachment.

Working with a veterinarian to ensure animal safety, the scientists recorded the body mass, length and body condition of the stunning silken-furred primates, which grow to be roughly a meter in length and weigh in at about 6.5 kilograms. The results actually revealed that sifakas in some fragmented rainforest environments were doing fine—their bodies were identical to those animals in the richest environments.

But significant differences were found in the two most disturbed habitats.

Continued

Love Island: Flamboyant males get the girls on Madagascar

In two new species of rare giant stick insects, males turn livid blue or multicolored at sexual maturity -- but why?

Date:  April 2, 2019

Source:  Frontiers

Biodiversity hotspot Madagascar is one of the world's biggest islands, and home to some of its biggest insects. Now German scientists have discovered two new species of giant stick insect, living only in the dry forests of Madagascar's northernmost tip.

One giant female measures a whopping 24cm -- but it is the smaller males that are most striking. At sexual maturity these daredevils abandon their stick-like camouflage for dazzling blue or many-colored shining armor.

Writing in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, the researchers describe their rare and exciting findings, and wonder at the reproductive success of the least stick-like stick insects on the planet.

When two become four

"Nearly all of the 3000+ known species of stick insects try to be inconspicuous and just look like twigs," says senior author Dr. Sven Bradler of the University of Göttingen, Germany. "There are a very few, very large exceptions -- and we have just discovered a couple more of them."

Continued

Love Island: Flamboyant males get the girls on Madagascar

APRIL 2, 2019

by Frontiers

Biodiversity hotspot Madagascar is one of the world's biggest islands, and home to some of its biggest insects. Now German scientists have discovered two new species of giant stick insect, living only in the dry forests of Madagascar's northernmost tip.

One giant female measures a whopping 24cm—but it is the smaller males that are most striking. At sexual maturity these daredevils abandon their stick-like camouflage for dazzling blue or many-colored shining armor.

Writing in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, the researchers describe their rare and exciting findings, and wonder at the reproductive success of the least stick-like stick insects on the planet.

When two become four

"Nearly all of the 3000+ known species of stick insects try to be inconspicuous and just look like twigs," says senior author Dr. Sven Bradler of the University of Göttingen, Germany. "There are a very few, very large exceptions—and we have just discovered a couple more of them."

The authors re-examined specimens they'd previously identified as odd-looking examples of two existing giant stick insect species, whose adult males remarkably are bright blue or multicolored.

Continued

Five new frog species from Madagascar – via Herp Digest

Smallest is hardly longer than a grain of rice.

March 28, 2019

Source: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Summary: Scientists have named five new species of frogs found across the island of Madagascar. The largest could sit on your thumbnail, the smallest is hardly longer than a grain of rice.

Scientists at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet (LMU) in Munich and the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology have named five new species of frogs found across the island of Madagascar. The largest could sit on your thumbnail, the smallest is hardly longer than a grain of rice.

Madagascar, an island a little larger than mainland France, has more than 350 frog species. This number of recognized species is constantly rising, and many of the newly named species are very small.

Mark D. Scherz, a PhD candidate at LMU Munich, and Dr. Frank Glaw, Head of the Herpetology Section at the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich, together with colleagues at the Technical University of Braunschweig and the University of Antananarivo have named five new species of tiny frogs found across the island. Their study appears in the online journal PLOS ONE.

The five new species belong to a group of frogs commonly referred to as 'narrow-mouthed' frogs, a highly diverse family found on every continent except Antarctica and Europe. Although most narrow-mouthed frogs are small to moderately large, many are tiny. In fact, the group includes the smallest frog in the world -- Paedophryne amauensis from Papua New Guinea, mature specimens of which reach a length of only 7.7 mm. What's remarkable is that, in the smallest frogs, "miniaturization" has evolved independently -- often several times within a single region, as highlighted in this new study. Three of the new species belong to a group that is wholly new to science, which the authors have formally dubbed Mini. The other two new species, Rhombophryne proportionalis and Anodonthyla eximia, are also just 11-12 mm long, and are much smaller than their closest relatives.

"When frogs evolve small body size, they start to look remarkably similar, so it is easy to underestimate how diverse they really are," says Mark D. Scherz, lead author on the new study. "Our new genus name, Mini, says it all. Adults of the two smallest species Mini mum and Mini scule are 8-11 mm long, and even the largest member of the genus, Miniature, at 15 mm, could sit on your thumbnail with room to spare."

Finding tiny frogs in the leaf litter is hard work. "Calling males often sit one or two leaves deep and stop calling at the slightest disturbance," says Frank Glaw. "It can take a lot of patience to find the frog you are looking for."

Story Source:

Materials provided by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference:

Mark D. Scherz, Carl R. Hutter, Andolalao Rakotoarison, Jana C. Riemann, Mark-Oliver Rödel, Serge H. Ndriantsoa, Julian Glos, Sam Hyde Roberts, Angelica Crottini, Miguel Vences, Frank Glaw. Morphological and ecological convergence at the lower size limit for vertebrates highlighted by five new miniaturised microhylid frog species from three different Madagascan genera. PLOS ONE, 2019; 14 (3): e0213314 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213314

Cite This Page:

            MLA

            APA

            Chicago

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. "Five new frog species from Madagascar." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 March 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328112519.htm>.

For endangered lemurs, internet fame has a dark side

That cute lemur selfie you shared may be fueling the illegal pet trade in Madagascar

Date:  January 28, 2019

Source:  Duke University

Cats and dogs aren't the only cute animals that rule the internet. We also coo over a video of someone snuggling a tiger cub, feeding a sloth or tickling a loris.

Now, a new study of Twitter activity shows that viral videos of seemingly cuddly exotic animals can have a dark side too -- by fueling demand for them as pets.

The study focused on a 2016 viral video of a ring-tailed lemur demanding back scratches from two boys in a village in Madagascar. Each time the kids take a break, the lemur turns toward them and points to a spot on its back as if begging for more.

Reactions ranged from "so sweet" and "awwww-cute" to "freaking adorable." The video quickly made the rounds on the internet, and within a week the original Facebook post had 20 million views.

Researchers downloaded and analyzed nearly 14,000 tweets mentioning pet or captive lemurs over an 18-week period before and after this video appeared online. As the video was liked and shared, the volume of tweets saying things like "I want a pet lemur" and "where can I find one?" more than doubled.

Google and YouTube searches for the phrase "pet lemur" also spiked in the weeks after the video went viral, compared with other times between 2013 and 2018.

None of the tweets revealed anyone actually buying or selling lemurs on Twitter. But the researchers worry such incidents could encourage would-be wildlife traffickers, particularly in Madagascar, the only place where the endangered primates live in the wild.

Read more

Newly Discovered Leaf-Tailed Gecko From Madagascar Is Already Threatened by Pet Trade – via Herp Digest

The master of camouflage is about 4-inches-long and hides amid dead leaves

Uroplatus finaritra by March Sherz

By Jason Daley, Smithsonian.com 1/24/19   

Some creatures have developed truly awesome camouflage: the owl butterfly, the leafy sea dragon, which looks like seaweed, or the self-explanatory stick insects, for example. One of the coolest are the leaf-tailed geckos, a group of animals in the genus Uroplatus that only live on the island of Madagascar. The animals have patterns that blend them perfectly into the local foliage, but most impressive are their tails, which resemble a rotting leaf, complete with discolored spots and little nicks and tears. Now, researchers have described a new species of these hard-to-see critters—and it may already be under threat from the pet trade.

The newly discovered species comes from low altitude areas of Marojejy National Park on Madagascar’s northeastern tip. During the day, the leaf-tailed geckos are difficult to spot. They tend to hang out in dead leaves, covering themselves with their deceptive tail and sticking their limbs out like twigs. At night, however, they come alive, actively hunting in the dense rainforest—that's when researchers conduct their surveys.

Shreya Dasgupta at Mongabay reports Fanomezana Ratsoavina, a herpetologist at the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar, collected the new species in 2003 during a field study, but at the time did not know it was new to science since it resembles another well-known species, the satanic leaf-tailed gecko. In May 2016, another herpetologist from Antananarivo who was conducting a survey in the park that involved collecting geckos noticed that some of the specimens were slightly larger than normal as well.

Jake Buehler at Earther reports that in November 2016, researchers collected a few more specimens and began analyzing them, finding that the 4-inch-long geckos are 50 percent larger than their satanic brethren and the interior of their mouth is scarlet red. Genetic analysis also confirmed the gecko is a new species, called Uroplatus finaritra, detailed in the journal Zootaxa. Finaritra is a Malagasy word meaning “healthy and happy,” which, Dasgupta reports, the researchers say describes their “delight in describing this splendid and exceptionally large species from a clade of generally small-sized leaf-tailed geckos.”

While it’s great to add another unique species to the list of life on Earth, Mark Scherz, study co-author and herpetologist at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, says the new species may already be in danger. While its primary habitat is in protected land, unlike those of many species on the island, it’s still imperiled. That’s because the satanic leaf-tailed gecko is often collected from the wild for the pet trade, and it’s difficult for collectors and herpetology enthusiasts to tell the two species apart.

“A young individual of U. finaritra can only be distinguished from U. phantasticus adults by checking the color of its mouth,” Scherz tells Dasgupta. “This is not an easy thing to do, requires stress to the animals, and could potentially hurt them irreparably if performed forcefully by a non-expert.”

Scherz says that some satanic geckos sold as pets are described as “giant” or “large” varieties of the species, and the researchers suspect those are actually U. finaritra. While inspecting every gecko shipped from Madagascar is not possible, the team tells Buehler that they suggest every reptile and amphibian shipment from the island includes information on where they animals were collected. Since the new species is believed to occur in a range north of the satanic leaf-tailed gecko, any animals collected from that region could be flagged as being likely misidentified.

“While discovering a new species is very exciting, we also need to think about its conservation,” Ratsoavina tells Dasgupta. “If the natural population of Uroplatus finaritra from Marojejy National Park stays intact without further habitat loss and illegal exploitation activities to supply the pet trade, this species will remain safe.”

New perspective on how lemurs got to Madagascar

By Helen BriggsBBC News

The lemurs of Madagascar are at the centre of a new mystery.

Scientists believe the story of how they arrived on the island is more complex than we thought.

After looking again at the fossil evidence, they question the idea that lemurs have been evolving in isolation on the island for 50 million years.

Finding out more about lemurs' ancient history could help conservation efforts.

A recent study found that almost all species of lemur face extinction.

"It deepens the mystery," Erik Seiffert of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, told BBC News.

"It makes it even more important that we try to find out more about the evolution of this group and maybe with some perspective from the past, it will give us some information we can use in the present about how to protect these species."

What do we know about the evolution of the lemurs?

The conventional view is that lemurs arrived in Madagascar 40-50 million years ago, long after it became an island.

Read on

Loss of lemurs might endanger many of Madagascar's largest tree species

Date: July 2, 2018

Source: Rice University

Summary:

Widespread logging and hunting have endangered virtually all of Madagascar's 100-plus species of iconic lemurs, and a new study by Rice University ecologists illustrates how saving the animals may also be key to saving the island's largest trees.

"Forest loss is a huge problem in Madagascar right now, but our study suggests that just saving the trees is not enough," said Amy Dunham, associate professor of biosciences at Rice and co-author of a paper appearing online today in a special issue of the International Journal of Primatology. "Not only are we facing the loss of these unique, charismatic animals, we're also losing their role in the ecosystem. Without lemurs, the rainforests themselves will change because the lemurs alone disperse the seeds of many of the forests' largest hardwoods."

Read on  

Toxic toad invasion puts Madagascar's predators at risk, genetic evidence confirms

June 4, 2018, Cell Press

The recent introduction of the common Asian toad to Madagascar has led to fears that the toxic amphibian could wreak havoc on the island's already severely threatened fauna. Now, researchers report genetic evidence in the journal Current Biology on June 4 showing that those fears are well founded: virtually all predators native to Madagascar are highly sensitive to toad toxins. If they should eat the toads, it would be a potentially fatal mistake.

"In Australia, the introduction of cane toads has caused profound perturbation to many ecosystems by removing key predators from local food webs with their toxins," says Wolfgang Wüster of Bangor University, United Kingdom. "Similar effects are likely to occur in Madagascar, where toads were never present before, as well; predators that frequently feed on toads and do not rapidly learn or evolve to avoid them are likely to become much rarer or possibly extinct."

Bufonid toads secrete bufadienolides that kill many predator species by inhibiting the sodium-potassium pump (Na+/K+-ATPase), an essential component of animal cell membranes. However, some species are known to have evolved resistance to these toxins through repeated, predictable, and specific point mutations in the gene encoding that essential enzyme. As such, the arrival of the toxic and invasive Asian toads (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) to Madagascar prompted vigorous debate over their likely impact and the actions that should be taken to control or eradicate them.

Read more at: 

Madagascar emerges as whale shark hotspot

By Helen BriggsBBC News

17 May 2018

Large numbers of endangered whale sharks have been sighted in waters off Madagascar.

The first major scientific survey in the area shows there are far more of the huge fish than previously thought.

Eighty-five individuals were identified in a single season from photographs of their distinctive markings.

The coastal waters contain a huge diversity of marine life, including sharks, whales and turtles.

"No one thought there were that many [whale] sharks," said Stella Diamant of the Madagascar Whale Shark Project in Nosy Be, an island off the coast of Madagascar.

"They don't seem to be there all year round - they come back for the food."

Many stars

Whale sharks, which have unique spot patterns, are known locally as marokintana, meaning many stars.

The marine biologists uploaded photographs of the sharks' markings to a global database of sightings known as the Wildbook for Whale Shark.

They found no overlap with data collected from other feeding areas in the Indian Ocean, suggesting the whale sharks - all juveniles - had not migrated from Mozambique or other neighbouring areas.

Read on 

Toxic toad invasion puts ecology of Madagascar at risk

The Asian amphibians arrived just 10 years ago. Now in their millions, they threaten the island’s unique wildlife

Jonathan Watts

Sat 24 Feb 2018 21.07 GMT First published on Sat 24 Feb 2018 20.45 GMT

Rustling branches and a canopy cacophony – part howl, part screech, part snigger – proclaim the presence of black-and-white ruffed lemurs as visitors enter Ivoloina zoological park in eastern Madagascar.

The raucous primate is one of several critically endangered species in this biological refuge, which breeds and protects rare wildlife from the growing pressures on this island’s unique ecology.

But having kept the poachers, loggers and developers at bay, the park’s operators now fear the advance of a very different threat: Duttaphrynus melanostictus, widely known as the Asian common toad.

Nobody knows precisely how this toxic amphibian arrived in Madagascar. The most credible theory is that a small number were accidentally shipped inside a container from Vietnam that was unloaded at Toamasina port and opened at the giant Ambatovy nickel and cobalt processing plant. But what is certain is how quickly they have overrun the local habitat.

Read more  

New species of lemur found on Madagascar

January 15, 2018 by Bob Yirka, Phys.org report

A team of researchers with members from the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Global Wildlife Conservation and the Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership has discovered a new species of lemur living in southeastern Madagascar. In their paper published in the journal Primate Conservation, the group describes features of the new species, some of its observed behaviors and the two places on Madagascar it was found.Lemurs are a type of primate endemic to the island of Madagascar. Currently, there are 113 known species, many of which are considered to be at risk because of deforestation and poaching. Prior research has shown that they evolved independently of monkeys and apes. The new species, a Grove's dwarf lemur (Cheirogaleus grovesi) has been found to live in two distinct regions in Madagascar, both national parks. One is mostly rainforest; the other a mix of forest and grasslands.

The researchers report that the newly discovered species is a little smaller than the North American squirrel (approximately 6 inches long) and features large, round black eyes, teddy bear-like ears, fluffy long tails and dexterous hands.

The members of the new rainforest species, the team reports, spend their time up in the canopy, which provides them shelter, food and a place to reproduce. They are believed to exist in social groups, but sometimes spend time alone, as well. Some specimens were captured via dart guns and nets to catch them when they fell. The team took measurements and blood and tissue samples for later study. Such samples were crucial in proving that the species was unique, as some were used to perform DNA analysis and comparison with other lemur species.

Read more at:

Lemurs are weird because Madagascar's fruit is weird

October 31, 2017

Lemurs are primates like us, but they're the weird cousins. They're found only on Madagascar off the coast of Africa, and they fight by secreting smelly paste from their shoulders and using their tails to waft the scent at their rivals. Some lemur species become inactive or hibernate when food is scarce, and other species eat all day and all night to get enough nutrients. Another thing that sets them apart is their diet—most primates eat a fruit-heavy diet, but lemurs primarily eat leaves. A new study in Scientific Reports sheds light on why lemurs don't eat as much fruit as their fellow primates and why they've developed these odd dietary behaviors—the fruit on Madagascar contains too little protein to sustain them.

"Lemurs are equal parts ridiculously cool and totally bizarre in that they represent the extremes and the extremely strange in the primate world," says Abigail Derby Lewis, a senior conservation ecologist at The Field Museum in Chicago and one of the study's authors. "This study is about investigating why we see certain patterns in the world."

Scientists have long known that lemurs' diets are unusually leafy for primates, but they weren't sure why. Hypotheses ranged from food scarcity to frequent cyclones on Madagascar making it hard for lemurs to find all the fruit they needed, so they turned to leaves instead. However, the new study indicates another culprit for the lemurs' odd diets—fruit that's too low in protein.

Proteins, whether consumed via meat, fruit, or a giant tub of whey powder from the vitamin store, are key to an organism's makeup and survival. Often called "the building blocks of life," they're chains of chemicals called amino acids with different sequences used for different functions, from building muscles to transporting oxygen.

Read more at: 

Ancient species of ‘supercroc’ had serrated, T. Rex-like teeth

July 6, 2017

by Chuck Bednar

A giant crocodile-like creature that lived in Madagascar more than 150 million years ago had a large jaw and serrated teeth similar to those of the Tyrannosaurus rex, suggesting that it, like the predatory dinosaur, fed on bones and other hard animal tissues, a new study has revealed.

The species, whose scientific name is Razanandrongobe sakalavae (“giant lizard ancestor from Sakalava region”), had straight legs and a skull unlike those of modern-day crocodiles, according to BBC News. It is thought to be the earliest and largest member of a group of early crocodilians known as Notosuchians – a clade which lived during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.

In fact, in a press release, lead author Cristiano Dal Sasso from the Natural History Museum of Milan and his colleagues reported that Razanandrongobe sakalavae (Razana, for short) predates what had been the earliest-known Notosuchians by around 42 million years.

Based on the shape of the skull and an analysis of the creature’s anatomical features, Dal Sasso and his colleagues identified Razana as a relative of South American baurusuchids and sebecids, a group of predators that had deep skulls and powerful erect limbs. Razana was reportedly about 7 meters long and weighed between 800 and 1,000 kilograms (about 1,700 to 2,200 pounds).

Read more at 

First-Ever Madagascar Dolphin Fossil Discovered

By Laura Geggel, Senior Writer | November 11, 2016 11:51am ET


A  single fossilized backbone is the first evidence on record that dolphins once swam around the waters of ancient Madagascar, scientists say.

The fossil backbone, or vertebra, dates to between 5 million and 9 million years ago during the late Miocene epoch, and belongs to a previously unknown and still unnamed species of dolphin, the researchers said.

"This exciting discovery marks the first fossil cetacean [a group including dolphins, whales and porpoises] from Madagascar," said study lead researcher Karen Samonds, an associate professor of biological sciences at Northern Illinois University.



Continued

'Ghost snake' discovered in Madagascar

Date: September 2, 2016

Source: Louisiana State University

Researchers discovered a new snake species in Madagascar and named it "ghost snake" for its pale grey coloration and elusiveness. They found the ghost snake on a recently opened path within the well-traveled Ankarana National Park in northern Madagascar in February 2014. They studied the snake's physical characteristics and genetics, which verified that it is a new species. The researchers from the LSU Museum of Natural Science, the American Museum of Natural History and the Université de Mahajunga in Madagascar named it Madagascarophis lolo, pronounced "luu luu," which means ghost in Malagasy. Their work was published in the scientific journal, Copeia, today.

The ghost snake is part of a common group of snakes calledMadagascarophis, or cat-eyed snakes, named for their vertical pupils, which is often found among snakes that are active in the evening or night. Many of the cat-eyed snakes are found in developed areas or degraded forests. However, the researchers found the ghost snake on the national park's iconic pale grey limestone Tsingy rocks.

"None of the other snakes in Madagascarophis are as pale and none of them have this distinct pattern," said Sara Ruane, post-doctoral researcher at the LSU Museum of Natural Science and lead author of the paper.

The researchers conducted genetic analyses and were surprised to find that the ghost snake's next closest relative is a snake called Madagascarophis fuchsi, which was discovered at a site approximately 100 kilometers north of Ankarana several years ago. Both were found in rocky, isolated areas.

"I think what's exciting and important about this work is even though the cat-eyed snakes could be considered one of the most common groups of snakes in Madagascar, there are still new species we don't know about because a lot of regions are hard to get to and poorly explored. If this commonly known, wide group of snakes harbors this hidden diversity, what else is out there that we don't know about?" Ruane said.

Continued 

What conservation isn’t: Eating endangered lemurs to save them

23 August 2016 / Commentary by Kim Reuter / Marni Lafleur / Tara Clarke

Lemur conservation is an issue that requires coordinated, targeted, thoughtful, and sustained action. It also requires a deep understanding of local cultural norms, traditions, and potential consequences to one’s actions. We would wager a guess that consuming lemurs to save them does not meet these criteria.

Richard Bangs, Editor-at-Large for Expedia.com and a travel writer for the New York Times, Slate, and the Huffington Post, wrote a detailed account for the Huffington Post in which he described his quest to find and eat a Critically Endangered species, the red-ruffed lemur (Varecia rubra).

The wildlife trade represents the third-largest illegal trade in the world following the arms and drugs trades, and it threatens to wipe out numerous and diverse species across the globe.

Lemurs, endemic to Madagascar, now represent the most endangered group of mammals on Earth with more than 90 percent of the 113 species being threatened with extinction. Thus, lemurs are illegal to capture, kill, sell, or eat in Madagascar.

“I can get you a lemur if you want one,” said a sun-hardened Malagasy man after finishing up an interview, via translator, about his history of hunting lemurs. He could get us a dead crowned lemur in a week, tops. Shocked, we declined; there are less than 10,000 individuals of this species left in the wild.

Continued  

Nectartini? This Little Lemur Has a Taste for Alcohol

By Mindy Weisberger, Senior Writer | July 20, 2016 12:40pm ET

Researchers have found that a species of nocturnal lemur sips on fermented nectar, and this little creature prefers its drinks strong.

In fact, the new study suggests that the taste for alcohol may be more widespread in the primate lineage than scientists previously thought, and may be linked to genetic factors that shaped the diets of early humans. 

Scientists had already discovered a gene mutation in both humans and African great apes that enables the speedy digestion of alcohol; this was likely an adaptation that evolved to accommodate fermented foods in our ancestors' diets.

Now, researchers have investigated another species, called the aye-aye, that bears the same mutation, known as A294V.

Probing for nectar

In the new study, the researchers wanted to investigate whether alcohol was part of the aye-ayes' regular diet. Aye-ayes are nocturnal lemurs native to Madagascar. They're known for their exceptionally elongated finger that they use to find and extract beetle larvae from wood.

Continued ...