Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
THE LAND
In the Beginning
What is now the island of Madagascar was once sandwiched between Africa and India as
part of the supercontinent Gondwana, a vast ancient land mass that also included Antarctica,
South America and Australasia.
The Natural History of Madagascar
, by Steven Goodman and Jonathan
Benstead, provides the most comprehensive overview of the island's pre-
cious natural heritage.
Gondwana began to break apart about 180 million years ago, but Madagascar remained
joined to Africa at the 'hip' - in the region of modern East Africa - for another 20 million
years. About 88 million years ago the eastern half of Madagascar broke off, moving north-
ward to eventually become India, by which time modern Madagascar had drifted to its
present position. Since then, Madagascar has remained at its present size and shape, geo-
graphically isolated.
LOST GIANTS
When humans first arrived, Madagascar supported many animals much bigger
than contemporary species: hippopotamuses, aardvarks, gorilla-size lemurs and
giant flightless birds, similar to modern African birds such as the ostrich, roamed
the island. With the arrival of humans, many of the larger animals, which no
doubt provided a ready supply of protein, were wiped out. Over the last thousand
years, scientists estimate that 16 species of lemur, plus tortoises, the hippopot-
amuses, giant aardvarks, the world's largest bird (the 3m-high elephant bird
Aepyornis
) and two species of eagle, have become extinct.
See
Click here
for more on the tragic story of the elephant bird.
The Eighth Continent
Madagascar measures 1600km on its longest axis, aligned roughly northeast to southwest,
and 570km from east to west at its widest point. Almost the entire island is in the tropics, al-
beit well south of the equator, and only the southern tip protrudes below the Tropic of Capri-
corn. The 5000km-long coastline features many long, sweeping sandy beaches, with coral
reefs and atolls offshore in some areas, and is dotted with some 250 islands, of which Nosy
Be and Ile Sainte Marie are the largest. It is such epic numbers that have earned Madagascar
the nickname 'the eighth continent'.
