Sakamena is a village near

Betroka Betroka is a hilly city (commune urbaine) in the Anosy Region in southern Madagascar, and is the source of the Onilahy River. It is situated at the Route nationale 13, Ihosy to Tolagnaro, at 118 km from Ihosy, 77 km from Isoanala and 203 km ...

in the region of

Anosy Anosy is one of the 22 regions of Madagascar. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the eastern side of what was once the Toliara Province. The name ''Anosy'' means "island(s)" in Malagasy. Due to a strategic sea route running alo ...

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 ...

. Sakamena is also the name of a

Permian The Permian ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system which spans 47 million years from the end of the Carboniferous Period million years ago (Mya), to the beginning of the Triassic Period 251.9 Mya. It is the last period of the Paleoz ...

sedimentary geological formation that has yielded many vertebrate fossil, including

Triadobatrachus ''Triadobatrachus'' is an extinct genus of salientian frog-like amphibians, including only one known species, ''Triadobatrachus massinoti''. It is the oldest member of the frog lineage known, and an excellent example of a transitional fossil. It ...

(the first lissamphibian),

Claudiosaurus ''Claudiosaurus'' (''claudus'' is Latin for 'lameness' and ''saurus'' means 'lizard') is an extinct genus of diapsid reptiles from the Permian Sakamena Formation of the Morondava Basin, Madagascar. The pattern of the vertebrate, girle, and limbs ...

, one of the first aquatic reptiles, and the

Coelurosauravus ''Coelurosauravus'' (meaning "hollow lizard grandfather") is a genus of basal diapsid reptiles, known from the Late Permian of Madagascar. Like other members of the family Weigeltisauridae, members of this genus possessed long, rod-like ossifica ...

, the first gliding reptile. Sakamena is also the name of a coal field that lies near the

Sakoa Sakoa is a region of southwestern Madagascar characterised by Madagascar spiny thickets, dry spiny forest and known particularly for its coal fields, the highest quality of which is the Sakoa field. There are a number of license holders on the fie ...

coal field. Both the Sakamena and Sakoa coal fields are under appraisal and development by Madagascar Consolidated Mining, a subsidiary of

Red Island Minerals Red Island Minerals Ltd (RIM) is a Perth Western Australia-based coal development company operating in Madagascar. The company is wholly owned by PTT Asia Pacific Mining Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of PTT Public Company Limited, a state-owned Thailand, ...

, a company founded by Sam Malin. Other coal fields adjacent to the Sakamena region include the Ianapera, Imaloto and Vohibory fields.

References

Wild Madagascar

Populated places in Anosy {{Anosy-geo-stub