Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
WHAT'S THAT FROG I SAW?
The Sahonagasy amphibian conservation project needs your help, and in return they
canprovideexpertidentificationsofthefrogsyouphotographonyourtravels.Simply
upload your images to their website (
www.sahonagasy.org
), including the date, time
and locality (a GPS point, if possible) of each frog photographed. An expert in Mala-
gasy herpetology will then confirm the species. The data you contribute to the pro-
ject will help with research into species distribution (but your photos won't be used
without your permission).
Similarintheirsuccesshavebeenthe
geckoes
.ThehundredorsogeckospeciesinMad-
agascar seem to be split between those that make every effort imaginable to camouflage
themselves and those that go out of their way to stick out like a sore thumb. The spec-
tacular
day gecko
(
Phelsuma madagascariensis
) and its relatives can be seen by passing
motorists from some distance. Their dazzling emerald coats emblazoned with Day-Glo or-
ange blotches are intended for the attentions of the opposite sex and competitors. Once in
their sights they bob their heads and wave their tails as if an extra guarantee of visibil-
ity is needed. In contrast a magnificently camouflaged
leaf-tailed gecko
(
Uroplatus
spp)
could easily be resting on a tree trunk right under your nose without being noticed. With
its flattened body, splayed tail, speckled eyes, colour-change tactics and complete lack of
shadow, you may remain ignorant of its presence unless it gets nervous and gapes its large,
red tongue in your direction.
A quiet scuttle on the floor of a western forest may well be a
skink,
while louder rust-
lings are likely to be one of the handsome
plated lizards
. However, the most significant
disturbances, both in the forest and the academic world, are made by the
iguanids
. This
group of mostly large lizards is primarily found in the Americas but no evidence of their
presencehaseverbeendiscoveredinAfrica.ThequestionofhowsomecametobeinMad-
agascar has not yet been answered convincingly.
Madagascar's three
boas
are in the same boat. They exist only as fossils in Africa, sup-
planted by the more stealthy pythons, but they do have distant relatives in South America.
Most often seen is the Madagascar tree boa (
Sanzinia madagascariensis
), which although
decoratedinthesamemarbledglaze,variesincolourfromorangeorgreen(whenjuvenile)
to grey and black, brilliant green or brown and blue, depending on the location. Its larger
relative the ground boa (
Acrantophis madagascariensis
) is also often spied at the edge of
waterways in the humid east and north. Of the remaining species of snake, the metre-long
hog-nosedsnake
(
Leioheterodonmadagascariensis
),initsdazzlingcheckerboardofblack
and yellow, is one of the most frequently encountered, usually gliding across a carpet of
leaves on the lookout for frogs.
