3. Wildlife of Madagascar - a genetic melting pot

One of the largest islands in the world, Madagascar is an amazing place full of incredible wildlife – lemurs, birds, chameleons many of which are found nowhere else in the world. Habitats are equally varied from dense tropical rain forest through semi-desert and scrub to weird spiny forests of bright green cactus-like trees, paralleled only by the endemic fauna and flora. Spectacular lemurs swinging through the trees like cuddly toys to the smallest primate in the world, the size of a mouse, not to mention the devil-like aye-aye and the chameleon that can just about perch on your thumb. Of the many rare birds the ground-rollers, vangas, jerries, newtonias, asities and couas are groups that just don’t feature in our assemblage of European birds.

Each year new species are being discovered to science, even those that are known are being reassigned new scientific names or being subdivided into subspecies and given new common names. It’s a veritable melting pot.

Duration 90 mins