Hot Spot: Madagascar & The Indian Ocean Islands

Addie LaurenteSai Mandalapu

Pete DeeganSydney Gilbert

OVERVIEW

• Located in Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands• Climate is mostly windy, rainy, hot, and humid• Population density: extinct species=

32 people/km²: 45 extinct species• Madagascar and continental Seychelles broke off from

Gondwanaland supercontinent 160 million years ago• living example of species evolution in isolation• islands do not share any of the typical animal groups of

nearby Africa

Why it’s a “Hot Spot”

• natural environment high biodiversity• contains large number of endangered species.

• Endangered Species (that live only here):– 8 plant families: – 5 primate families– 4 bird families– 50 + lemur species

Unique Biodiversity

• Of the 13,000 species of plants, 11,600 are endemic.• The islands contain 155 species of mammals, 144 of

them are endemic.• Of the 300 different bird species, 60% are endemic.• 384 reptile species are found on the islands and 367

of them are endemic to the area.• There are 230 species of amphibians and 229 are

endemic.• There are 164 species of fish and 97 are endemic.