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Oplurus Quadrimaculatus
''Oplurus quadrimaculatus'', the Duméril's Madagascar Swift or Madagascar spotted spiny-tailed iguana, is a terrestrial malagasy iguana belonging to the family Opluridae. Description ''Oplurus quadrimaculatus'' can reach a length of . This iguana is greyish, with a spotted back and tail and legs covered with enlarged, spinous scales. It spends hours basking in sunlight. It is mainly insectivorous. Mating lasts just a few seconds and the eggs are laid in sheltered areas. Distribution This species is endemic to Madagascar. It can be found from the central areas up to the south of the country, at an elevation up to above sea level. Habitat ''Madagascar spotted spiny-tailed iguana'' lives on loamy slopes, clay expanses and large rocks in various environment, from the arid regions in dry spiny forests to northern wetlands and humid areas close to the rainforest and in shrubland. Gallery Oplurus quadrimaculatus.jpeg, Isalo Duméril's Madagascar swift (Oplurus quadrimaculatus) he ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Malagasy Fauna
The fauna of Madagascar is a part of the wildlife of Madagascar. Madagascar has been an isolated island for about 70 million years, breaking away from Africa around 165 million years ago, then from India nearly 100 million years later. This isolation led to the development of a unique endemic fauna. Before humans arrived about 2,000 years ago, there were many large and unusual animals living there, descended from species that were originally present when Madagascar became an island, or from species that later crossed the sea to Madagascar. Ecological niches were often filled by animals with quite different histories from those on the African mainland, often leading to convergent evolution. A large proportion of these endemic Malagasy animals have died out since the arrival of humans, most particularly the megafauna. Despite this, and massive deforestation, Madagascar is still home to an incredible array of wildlife, the vast majority of which is unique in the world. Madaga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iguana
''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his book ''Specimen Medicum, Exhibens Synopsin Reptilium Emendatam cum Experimentis circa Venena''. Two species are placed in the genus, the green iguana, which is widespread throughout its range and a popular pet, and the Lesser Antillean iguana, which is native to the Lesser Antilles. Genetic analysis indicates that the green iguana may comprise a complex of multiple species, some of which have been recently described, but the Reptile Database considers all of these as subspecies of the green iguana. The word "iguana" is derived from the original Taino name for the species, ''iwana''. In addition to the two species in the genus ''Iguana'', several other related genera in the same family have common names of the species including the word "ig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opluridae
The Opluridae, or Madagascan iguanas, are a family of moderately sized lizards native to Madagascar and Grande Comore. There are eight species in two genera, with most of the species being in ''Oplurus''. The Opluridae, along with ''Brachylophus'' of Fiji, are the only extant members of the Pleurodonta that are found outside the Americas. The family includes species that live amongst rocks, some that live in trees, and two that prefer sandy habitats. All of the species lay eggs, and have teeth that resemble those of the true iguanas. A study was done to identify the foraging mode of the ''Oplurus'' species. The species was highly favored to be ambush foragers due to their low movement per min (MPM) and percent time spent moving (PTM) During rainy and dry seasons of the jardin botanique A of Ampijoroa forest. the two genera are easily distinguished. The smaller two '' Chalarodon'' species have a dorsal crest, particularly distinct in males, and has a smoother tail covered in similar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa across the Mozambique Channel. At Madagascar is the world's List of island countries, second-largest island country, after Indonesia. The nation is home to around 30 million inhabitants and consists of the island of Geography of Madagascar, Madagascar (the List of islands by area, fourth-largest island in the world), along with numerous smaller peripheral islands. Following the prehistoric breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana, Madagascar split from the Indian subcontinent around 90 million years ago, allowing native plants and animals to evolve in relative isolation. Consequently, Madagascar is a biodiversity hotspot; over 90% of wildlife of Madagascar, its wildlife is endemic. Human settlement of Madagascar occurred during or befo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anja Community Reserve
The Anja Community Reserve is a woodland area and freshwater lake, situated at the base a large cliff. Much of the reserve is dominated by fallen rocks and boulders and there are two small caves providing habitat for bats and owls. This reserve has much sheltered habitat in the pocket of forest that has established between the vast boulders. The reserve was created in 2001 with the support on the UNDP to help preserve the local environment and wildlife, and to provide additional employment and income to the local community. The reserve is home to the highest concentration of maki, or ring-tailed lemurs, in all of Madagascar. The people, who have a belief in not eating the maki, used to sell the maki to outsiders. However, after finding that 95% of makis in Madagascar are now gone, the people initiated the formation of a nature reserve, effectively establishing the world's largest congregation site for makis. Due to its high biological, cultural, and natural importance, scholars ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Isalo National Park
Isalo National Park is a National Park in the Ihorombe Region of Madagascar, in the southwestern corner of the Province of Fianarantsoa. The closest town is Ranohira, and the closest cities are Toliara and Ihosy. It is a sandstone landscape that has been dissected by wind and water erosion into rocky outcrops, plateaus, extensive plains and up to deep canyons. There are permanent rivers and streams as well as many seasonal watercourses. Elevation varies between . History and significance Isalo National Park was created in 1962 and has been administered by the Madagascar National Parks authority since 1997. The Bara people have traditionally inhabited this area, a nomadic people subsisting on cattle (zebu) farming. There are burial sites of the Bara people and some older burial sites of the Sakalava. Isalo is primarily within the dry deciduous forests ecoregion, an ecoregion in which natural vegetation has been reduced by almost 40% of its original extent. It also includes lands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oplurus
''Oplurus'' is a genus of Malagasy iguanian lizards, most of which are rock-dwelling terrestrial species. The sister genus to ''Oplurus'' is ''Chalarodon'', which contains two species: '' Chalarodon madagascariensis'' and '' Chalarodon steinkampi'', which are terrestrial iguanas and easily distinguished from ''Oplurus'' by its smaller size and the presence of a distinct dorsal crest. Species The six recognized species in the genus ''Oplurus'' comprise two distinct clades. Uwe Schlüter (2013). ''Madagaskarleguane - Lebensweise, Pflege und Fortpflanzung''. KUS-Verlag, Rheinstetten. . *Spiny-tailed arboreal clade: ** Merrem's Madagascar swift ('' Oplurus cyclurus'') **Collared iguanid (''Oplurus cuvieri'') *Saxicolous (rock dwelling) clade: **Madagascar blue iguana ('' Oplurus fierinensis'') (greyish-blue without dark dorsal bands) ** Grandidier's Madagascar swift ('' Oplurus grandidieri'' (with light mid-dorsal band) ** Duméril's Madagascar swift ('' Oplurus quadrimacul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reptiles Of Madagascar
Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates ( lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians (tuatara). As of March 2022, the Reptile Database includes about 11,700 species. In the traditional Linnaean classification system, birds are considered a separate class to reptiles. However, crocodilians are more closely related to birds than they are to other living reptiles, and so modern cladistic classification systems include birds within Reptilia, redefining the term as a clade. Other cladistic definitions abandon the term reptile altogether in favor of the clade Sauropsida, which refers to all amniotes more closely related to modern reptiles than to mammals. The study of the traditional reptile orders, historically combined with that of modern amphibians, is called herpetology. The earliest known proto-reptiles originated ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endemic Fauna Of Madagascar
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, the Cape sugarbird is found exclusively in southwestern South Africa and is therefore said to be ''endemic'' to that particular part of the world. An endemic species can be also be referred to as an ''endemism'' or in scientific literature as an ''endemite''. For example '' Cytisus aeolicus'' is an endemite of the Italian flora. '' Adzharia renschi'' was once believed to be an endemite of the Caucasus, but it was later discovered to be a non-indigenous species from South America belonging to a different genus. The extreme opposite of an endemic species is one with a cosmopolitan distribution, having a global or widespread range. A rare alternative term for a species that is endemic is "precinctive", which applies to s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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