A Conspiracy of Lemurs

27th October 2015. Berenty, Madagascar.

On our last morning at Berenty, this is also my last wildlife post from Madagascar.

Yellow-billed Kite.

Ring-tailed lemurs.

Elephant birds would likely have roamed this region in previous centuries. They were three metres high and weighed half a tonne and survived until at least the seventeenth century. Much of the year they lived in the mountains but came down to the sand of the south coast to lay their eggs.

Natural cactus garden. Actual colours.

They look like funghi but they’re flatid leaf bugs. Click on the image to see them closer.

Chameleon. Species unidentified.

A conspiracy of lemurs.

Octopus trees.

Octopus trees and scrub.

Sportive lemur.

Baobab, probably Adansonia za.

A clump of Alluaudia Procera or Madagascar Ocotillo, also known as Octopus Tree, showing the habitat and especially for Jeni (Skyscapes for the Soul), following a comment in an earlier post.

A clump of the cacti common in the area.

Where once was spiny forest, lemurs and other wildlife, now is sisal plantations and no wildlife. I wonder whether this is also a plantation crop grown by a foreign company with little or no benefit to the local population.

Spiny Forest Dreaming

Aug4

27th October 2015. Berenty, Madagascar.

With my time in Berenty drawing to a close, I dreamt in the ethereal spiny forest.

Ring-tailed lemurs eating or drawing moisture from cacti.

It’s a photograph of course and therefore completely realistic in all respects.

Ringtails in front of the cacti.

.
.

This is what it may look like to a chameleon….

… such as this one.

.
.

(All IR).

Sakalava Weavers and Dancing Sifakas at Berenty

Aug1

26th October 2015. Berenty, Madagascar.

Sakalava weavers and their hanging nests (there is only one bird visible but there are others inside the nests).

White man’s burden? Ringtailed lemur sitting on wooden sculpture.

Plants from the desert garden near the cabins.

.
.

… and also, a chameleon….

.
.

More dancing sifakas, this one coming straight towards me.

.
.

… and finally, one on a roof.

Masters of Camouflage

Jul16

22nd October 2015. Mantadia, Madagascar.

Most images from deep in the rainforest of Mantadia National Park….

Young Indri high in the tree tops.

Young Indri leaping.

Indri.

.
.

Collared Nightjar.

Leaf-tailed gecko. Uroplatus Fimbriatus or Uroplatus Giganteus. As our bus was very slowly passing, some roadside workers stopped our bus and called us over.

The Uroplatus species might be the same animal or might conceal a number of species.

OK, you probably can’t see it (and it is not in peak focus).

It’s clearer here. From the other side of the tree.

Perhaps you still can’t see it. Maybe try clicking on the image to expand.

You can see one of the rear legs now. The tail is beside it. The head is further down.

It is said they face downwards on the trunk so that avian predators cannot see their eyes from above.

Close-up of the eye and part of the head.

Less than technically perfect because it required focus stacking and I did not shoot enough images.

A vertical band at the far left is bark from the tree.

Stick insect.

Chameleon.

Back at Andasibe now, a chameleon by torchlight at night.

Frog, species unidentified.

Chameleons at Peyrieras

Jun23

13th October 2015. Peyrieras Nature reserve, Marazevo, Madagascar.

Parson’s Chameleon.

Many species of chameleon are endemic to Madagascar, which has about half of the World’s chameleon species.

Parson’s Chameleon.

Chameleon fingers and toes are fused in groups of two and three, to assist in gripping branches. Most chameleons live in trees.

Probably female Oustalet’s chameleon, also known as Malagasy giant chameleon.

Parson’s and Oustalet’s chameleons are the largest worldwide, at more than 65cm. The smallest, the recently discovered Brookesia micra, is 3cm long and can sit on top of a finger.

Probably female Oustalet’s chameleon, also known as Malagasy giant chameleon.

(I am unable to identify many of these chameleons).

Chameleons are mainly insectivores, catching them with their extraordinary tongue.

Here, blending fairly well into the trunk of the tree.

Chameleons can move their eyes independently, to look simultaneously at tow objects in very different directions. When they detect prey, they can focus on it with both eyes for stereoscopic vision.

Panther Chameleon.

Most chameleons have prehensile tails except for a group of very small stump-tailed or leaf chameleons that live mainly in the leaf litter in the forest floor, hunting for insects and often camouflaguing themselves as leaves.

Panther Chameleon capturing an insect.

The flash of the tongue to catch an insect happens very quickly, though you can see them winding up for it.

Panther Chameleon.

Most people think a chameleon can change to any colour to match their surroundings but it is not as simple as that. They will have a range of colours and not be able to change outside that range. Colours within the same species can also vary considerably by region. Camouflage is just one source of colour change. Others include mating displays, defending territory, expressing emotions including anger, and regulating body temperature.