Big storms wreak havoc on Madagascar

Hit by six cyclones already this season, Madagascar braces for Favio - #7

From Reuters AlertNet:

ANTANANARIVO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Nearly 25,000 people are in need of humanitarian aid after a series of floods in Madagascar, while another tropical storm threatens the island's southwest region, a government official said on Monday.

Rising flood waters have covered houses, cut off main roads, and destroyed an estimated 200,000 tonnes of rice on the world's fourth-largest island.

See a brief story about the storms and their devastating effects at AlertNet.

Lemur boon on Madagascar - Genetic analysis turns up three new species.

news @ nature.com - Lemur boon on Madagascar - Genetic analysis turns up three new species.:

"The number of known species of the mouse lemur, the world's smallest primate, has increased by 25% with the description of three new species, bringing the total to 15.

Mouse lemurs are wide-eyed nocturnal animals that scamper around the forests of Madagascar, an island that harbors a tremendous diversity of wildlife."

Quite a contrast to news item earlier this month indicating that burgeoning species numbers among mouse lemurs (Genus: Microcebus) were overestimated.

BTW: Do they mean a lemur BOOM? I thought boon meant something like friend?

OT: time warp in Madagascar?

As the Presidential elections draw near, it seems that dissent from within may throw the country into chaos. It is highly reminiscent of the contentious 2001 elections where current President Marc Ravalomanana faced long-time incumbent Ratsiraka.


BBC NEWS Africa Madagascar general urges overthrow

OT: Say goodbye to the environment in Madagascar due to "Gold Bonanza"

PRESS RELEASE Phase II Drilling at Madagascar's Mountain of Gold Yields Bonanza Grades: Pan African Mining Corp. Drills 5.5 Meters @ 50.81 g/t Au

Different coat color may not mean different species for lemurs

Different coat color may not mean different species for lemurs: "Different coat color may not mean different species for lemurs

Mouse lemurs with distinct coat colors and shared genetics.

New Haven, Conn. -- Researchers have found that lemurs suspected to belong to different species because of their strikingly different coat colors, are not only genetically alike, but belong to the same species.

Historically, species classification has been based on comparison of visible physical characteristics of plants or animals. Kellie Heckman, a post-doctoral fellow in ecology and evolutionary biology at Yale, and her colleagues at other universities, used analysis of a mitochondrial gene, cytochrome b, to test the genetic relationship of 70 lemurs that were thought to belong to up to three different species. Their report was published in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology.

'Our study combined morphological, genetic, geographic, and ecological data giving a multidimensional, and hopefully more accurate picture of species diversity,' said Heckman. 'Over the past decade, the number of proposed species of these lemurs has jumped from two to fifteen, based on physical differences. It pointed to the need for caution when identifying new species solely on the basis of visual or genetic characteristics.'


The lemurs they tested had three extremely different coat colors and lived in different types of forest locations in southern Madagascar -- classic characteristics of separate species. These researchers chose to compare mitochondrial cytochrome b as a gene marker that is known to change at a rate similar to that of speciation. Other common nuclear genes may evolve more slowly or more rapidly with population drift.

Surprisingly, the researchers found that although the lemurs appeared to be different species because they were visually distinct, they did not differ genetically. According to the sequence of their cytochrome b genes, all belong to the same previously identified species, Microcebus griseorufus.

The authors also show that lemurs with each of the three different coat colors could be found in all three geographical locations in similar proportions. They note that lemurs are nocturnal animals and tend to depend on auditory cues, or smell, more than on visual cues to recognise each other. They say that this could explain why a certain amount of variation in coat color does not affect species recognition in the mouse lemurs.

"There is a remarkable amount of diversity in primates," said Heckman. "We wanted to more thoroughly document this with both morphologic and genetic analysis."

OT: Madagascar: Yes. I'm feeling sentimental today.

KRT Wire | 10/30/2006 | Beautiful but isolated island's habitats face a fight for survival

I'd never use Cortez travel...only for the wimpy.

OT: Madagascar: Gem rush destroys green paradise

I remember driving through Ilakaka the first time in 1996 when it was just a small village with a few houses. When I returned in 1998 it was almost a city, which continued to grow to include a gas station, whore houses and a strange mix of other vendors.

By the time I left in 2001, Ilakaka had started to dry up. The earth was covered in pock marks from the pit mining. In an ecosystem that looks almost moon-like when it's healthy - except for its redness - the holes made it especially eerie. (I'm not sure about the reference to the "green paradise" because the natural ecosystem wasn't a forest - or anything that one might call green.)

The Thai gem dealers (those from other Asian coutntries as well, I think) in fancy Range Rovers and their hooligans were conspicuous. So was the poverty, exploitation and suffering. Knowing that poor men and families came from everywhere for the chance to earn some money (not even to strike it rich), that many people died and that most were exploited in some way made Ilakaka a sad place.

Madagascar Gem Rush Destroys Green Paradise

OT: Madagaascar: Madagascar exile out of elections

BBC NEWS | Africa | Madagascar exile out of elections

OT - Three new lemurs take a bow in Madagascar

Reuters AlertNet - Three new lemurs take a bow in Madagascar

Conservation of lemurs and other endemic wildlife in Madagascar

I think it's wonderful that President Marc Ravalomanana and several motivated NGOs have defined a vision for conservation in Madagascar. With most of the island's forest already gone, and many habitats in need of protection, it is an absolutely urgent situation. However, most recent news announcements out of Madagascar are about mining: gold, platinum, other metals, and even diamonds. Large scale mining, and its purported economic benefits, and biodiversity conservation just don't mix.

Sadly, I think these conservation efforts may be a day late and a dollar (or ariary ) short!