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