Frogs, geckos and snakes at Peyrieras

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

There around 300 species of frog currently identified in Madagascar with many others identified by DNA analysis but awaiting description. Consequently, it is not surprising that I am unable to identify this one.

Golden mantella (red form).

This is a tiny frog. It is brightly coloured to warn of its poisonous nature but still has some predators. It is restricted to three small regions and is critically endangered.

This one of the three boa species in Madagascar, probably the Eastern Tree Boa. Madagascan boas are most closely related to the boas of Central and South America, which has been suggested as evidence for a land bridge at some ancient time between South America and Madagascar, through Antarctica.

This is the Nile Crocodile. Swimming is not advised because they have the most ferocious bite of any animal.

Unknown plated lizard or skink.

Giant Madagascar Day Gecko.

It is diurnal, whereas most Madagascan geckos are nocturnal, and reaches a length of 30cm.

Madagascan Flying Fox, the largest bat in Madagascar.

The leaf-tailed geckos show amazing capacities for camouflage. They commonly stay facing downwards on trees, possibly to avoid avian predators catching the glint of their eyes. Not sure of the identification of this one. The next three images are also of leaf-tailed geckos. We were later to see one in the wild.

Perhaps Uroplatus Alluaudi.

Possibly the Giant Leaf-Tailed Gecko.

Probably Uroplatus Lineatus.

There are about 297 species of butterfly in Madagascar, 210 of which are endemic.

Unidentified Madagascan snake.

Langaha madagascariensis.

This is a snake masquerading as a twig. The female of this species has a long pointed nose. there are two other species in this genus.

Comet Moth and coccoon.

Chameleons at Peyrieras

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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.

Tenrecs and Lemurs at Peyrieras

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

Peyrieras Nature Reserve is akin to a zoo, with a wide variety of remarkable endemic species, many of which you might find difficult to encounter in the wild. The Lemurs, though are just out the back in the bush, enticed in by handouts of food.

Common Tenrec.

Tenrecs are endemic to Madagascar (i.e. they are only found there). There are thirty or more species of Tenrec with a wide variety of appearances and filling various ecological niches elsewhere occupied by hedgehogs, moles, shrews, mice and one even something like a water rat. They produce up to 32 offspring in a litter and have seventeen pairs of nipples, more than any other mammal. They are primarily insectivores.

I didn’t see any tenrecs in the wild in my tours around Madagascar.

Common brown lemur.

Lemurs are endemic to Madagascar and they arrived after Madagascar had separated from Africa (and South America), probably on natural rafts. As with all four main groups of terrestrial mammals, in other words as with the lemurs, tenrecs, rodents and carnivores, the many species of lemurs are thought to have evolved from a single pair.

Coquerel’s sifaka.

Wikipedia says Verreaux’s sifakas were released here but these are clearly Coquerel’s sifakas, normally found in the north-west. However, they were at one time grouped with Verreaux’s sifakas.

When humans arrived on Madagascar about 2,000 years ago, there were around seventeen species of giant lemur all of whom are now extinct. The largest of these was about the size of a gorilla. There are nearly 100 surviving species of lemur but 90% are vulnerable to extinction within the next twenty to twenty-five years.

There are five families of surviving lemurs: mouse lemurs, Indriids (including the Indri, Sifakas and Woolly lemurs), Lemurids (Ring-tailed lemur, True lemurs including Brown lemurs, Ruffed lemurs and Bamboo lemurs), Sportive lemurs and the Aye-Aye.

Lemurs are of course primates and separated out around fifty million years ago. They have relatives in Africa and South-East Asia including galagos, pottos and lorises.