This is a list of the native wildmammal species recorded in Madagascar. As of June 2014 (following the IUCN reassessment of the lemurs) there are 241extant mammal species recognized inMadagascar, of which 22 are critically endangered, 62 are endangered, 32 are vulnerable, 9 are near threatened, 72 are of least concern and 44 are either data deficient or not evaluated. All of the critically endangered species arelemurs.[note 1]
Earlier in theHolocene, Madagascar had a number ofmegafaunal mammals:giant lemurs such asArchaeoindris which at over 200 kg was comparable in mass to the largest gorillas, as well as the hippopotamuses. The island also hosted flightlesselephant birds weighing up to 700 kg, the largest known birds of all time.[note 5] All of thesewent extinct following the first appearance of humans about 2000 years ago.[8][9][note 6] Today, the largest surviving native mammals of the island, such as theindri[11] andfossa,[12] have weights only approaching 10 kg. Most if not all of the 29 listedextinct species are believed to have died out in prehistoric times; none of these are known to have survived into the post-European contact period.
The following tags are used to highlight each species' conservation status as assessed by theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature; those on the left are used here, those in the second column in some other articles:
Theafrotherian order Afrosoricida contains thegolden moles andotter shrews ofsub-Saharan Africa and the tenrecs ofMadagascar, families of small mammals that were traditionally part of the order Insectivora. All native tenrecs of Madagascar are believed to descend from a common ancestor that lived 29–37 million years (Ma) ago[13][14][15] afterrafting from Africa,[16][17] with the split from their closest relatives, the otter shrews of equatorial Africa, dated to about 47–53 Ma ago.[13][14][15]
Afrosoricida also contains the enigmatic extinct genusPlesiorycteropus, represented by two extinct species of dog-sized, probably insectivorous mammals restricted to Madagascar. Morphological analyses have tended to place them withinAfrotheria close toaardvarks (orderTubulidentata),[18] perhaps due to convergent specializations for digging.[19] Analysis of preserved collagen sequences, however, places them in Afrosoricida closest to (and possibly within) tenrecs.[20] The two species differ in size and aspects of morphology.[19] They survived until as recently as 2150BP.[9]
Sirenia is an order of fully aquatic, herbivorous mammals that inhabit rivers, estuaries, coastal marine waters, swamps, and marine wetlands. All four species are endangered. The dugong ranges widely along coastlines from east Africa to Australasia. It and the tenrecs are Madagascar's onlyextantafrotherians.
The order Primates contains all the species commonly related to thelemurs,monkeys, andapes, with the latter category includinghumans. It is divided into four main groupings:strepsirrhines,tarsiers, monkeys of theNew World, and monkeys and apes of theOld World. Strepsirrhines make up all of Madagascar's native primates species, but comprise only a quarter of those of Africa, the rest beingsimians. Madagascar's strepsirrhines occupy bothdiurnal andnocturnal niches, while all those of Asia and mainland Africa are nocturnal[21] and nearly all simians are diurnal (the only exception being neotropicalAotus, which lives where strepsirrhines are absent).[22] Madagascar's 15 genera of extant nonhuman primates compares with6 in Central America,20 in South America,23 in Africa and 19 in Asia. A number of lemur species larger than any now alive, ranging in size up to that of a gorilla, are believed to have become extinct shortly after the recent arrival of humans.
The endemic primates of Madagascar, the lemurs, constitute a singleclade and are the largest branch of strepsirrhines. It has been proposed that a common ancestor of all Madagascar's lemursrafted across theMozambique Channel from Africa[23][24][note 7] between 50 and 60 million years ago.[16][17] However, findings of similarities in dentition between several African primate fossils andaye-ayes, the mostbasal of lemurs, have led to the alternate proposal that the ancestors of aye-ayes colonized Madagascar separately from other lemurs.[25]
Between 2000 and 2008, 39 new lemur species were described, bringing the total number of recognized species and subspecies to 99;[26] by 2014, the number of extant species and subspecies recognized had increased to 105. Of these, the IUCN classified 24 as critically endangered, 49 as endangered, 20 as vulnerable, three as near threatened, three as of least concern and four as data deficient; two were yet to be evaluated.
Rodents make up the largest order of mammals, with over 40% of mammalian species. They have twoincisors in the upper and lower jaw which grow continually and must be kept short by gnawing. Most rodents are small though thecapybara can weigh up to 45 kg (99 lb). All the nativenesomyid rodents of Madagascar are believed to descend from a common ancestor thatrafted over from Africa 20–24 million years ago.[16][17] There are about 39 nesomyid species in five subfamilies in Africa, compared to 27 in one subfamily extant in Madagascar. While nesomyids make up all of the native rodent species of Madagascar, they constitute less than 10% of those of Africa.
Eulipotyphlans are insectivorous mammals. Shrews andsolenodons closely resemble mice,hedgehogs carry spines, whilemoles are stout-bodied burrowers. There is one species of shrew on Madagascar, which is often considered to be conspecific with the widely distributedEtruscan shrew,Suncus etruscus, and likely to have been introduced to Madagascar from South or Southeast Asia by humans.[27]
The bats' most distinguishing feature is that their forelimbs are developed as wings, making them the only mammals capable of flight. Bat species account for about 20% of all mammals. Of the 46 species, 22 genera and 8 families of bats present on Madagascar, 36 species but onlyMyzopoda andMyzopodidae are endemic (the family was formerly present, however, on the African mainland).Paratriaenops is endemic to Madagascar plus theSeychelles.
Family:Pteropodidae (flying foxes, Old World fruit bats)
There are over 260 species of carnivorans, the majority of which feed primarily on meat. They have a characteristic skull shape and dentition. The native terrestrial carnivorans of Madagascar are all euplerids, which are believed to descend from a common ancestor thatrafted over from Africa 19–26 million years ago.[17] Their closest relatives are theherpestids, the African and Eurasian mongooses. Malagasy mongooses are not "true" mongooses but rather are thought to represent an example ofconvergent orparallel evolution. About 30% of African terrestrial carnivoran species are herpestids.
The infraorder Cetacea includeswhales,dolphins andporpoises. They are the mammals most fullyadapted to aquatic life with a spindle-shaped nearly hairless body, protected by a thick layer of blubber, and forelimbs and tail modified to provide propulsion underwater. Their closest extant relatives are thehippos, which are artiodactyls, from which cetaceans descended; cetaceans are thus also artiodactyls.
^This list is derived from theIUCN Red List, which includes extant mammal species as well as four recently extinct species known from subfossil remains. To these have been added other species believed to have died out following the arrival of humans, as well as a few species known fromHolocene remains whose extinction dates are poorly constrained. The taxonomy and naming of the individual species is based on those used in existing Wikipedia articles, supplemented by the common names and taxonomy from the IUCN, Smithsonian Institution, or University of Michigan where no Wikipedia article was available.
^The rodent familyNesomyidae is also present in Africa. Madagascar has nearly as many nesomyid species as Africa.
^It was long suspected that, like the native mammals,ratites reached Madagascar from Africa (possiblybefore the splitting of the two land masses), so that the closest relatives of elephant birds would have beenostriches. A stunning finding fromancient DNA analysis, however, is that the closest extant relatives of elephant birds are actually the diminutivekiwi of New Zealand.[7]
^This depletion of the megafauna is consistent with what has happened everywhere else in the world first colonized by humans in the last 100,000 years.[10]
^abBurney, D. A.; Burney, L. P.; Godfrey, L. R.; Jungers, W. L.; Goodman, S. M.; Wright, H. T.; Jull, A. J. T. (July 2004). "A chronology for late prehistoric Madagascar".Journal of Human Evolution.47 (1–2):25–63.Bibcode:2004JHumE..47...25B.doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2004.05.005.PMID15288523.
^abDouady, C. J.; Catzeflis, F.; Kao, D. J.; Springer, M. S.; Stanhope, M. J. (2002). "Molecular Evidence for the Monophyly of Tenrecidae (Mammalia) and the Timing of the Colonization of Madagascar by Malagasy Tenrecs".Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.22 (3):357–363.Bibcode:2002MolPE..22..357D.doi:10.1006/mpev.2001.1055.PMID11884160.
^Horovitz, I. S. (December 2004). "Eutherian Mammal Systematics and the Origins of South American Ungulates As Based on Postcranial Osteology".Bulletin of Carnegie Museum of Natural History.36:63–79.doi:10.2992/0145-9058(2004)36[63:EMSATO]2.0.CO;2.S2CID86064468.
^Mittermeier, R., Ganzhorn, J., Konstant, W., Glander, K., Tattersall, I.,Groves, C., Rylands, A., Hapke, A., Ratsimbazafy, J., Mayor, M., Louis, E., Rumpler, Y., Schwitzer, C. & Rasoloarison, R. (December 2008). "Lemur Diversity in Madagascar".International Journal of Primatology.29 (6):1607–1656.doi:10.1007/s10764-008-9317-y.hdl:10161/6237.S2CID17614597.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Mittermeier, Russell A.; Louis, Edward E.; Richardson, Matthew; Schwitzer, Christoph; Langrand, Olivier; Rylands, Anthony B.; Hawkins, Frank (2010).Lemurs of Madagascar. Conservation International tropical field guide series (Third ed.). Arlington, Va: Conservation International.ISBN978-1-934151-23-5.
^abJungers, W.L., Lemelin, P., Godfrey, L.R., et al. (2005). The hands and feet of Archaeolemur: metrical affinities and their functional significance. Journal of Human Evolution, 49, 36-55. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.03.001
^abNowak, Ronald M. (1999).Walker's mammals of the world (6th ed.). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.ISBN978-0-8018-5789-8.
^Mittermeier, Russell A.; Nash, Stephen D.; Ganzhorn, Jörg U., eds. (2006).Lemurs of Madagascar. Conservation International tropical field guide series (2nd ed.). Washington, D.C: Conservation International.ISBN978-1-881173-88-5.
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