Word: madagascars
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...have never much believed in natural selection, a trip to Madagascar would likely change your mind. The flora and fauna here, having developed for some 80 million years in virtual isolation from the rest of the world, have taken some curious evolutionary turns. The nocturnal aye-aye, for instance, has a long, skeletal middle finger that enables it to retrieve grubs from inside trees; the hook-billed vanga evolved a curved bill for a similar reason, while the horned-leaf chameleon can change color to match the dead leaves on the floor of western Madagascar's dry deciduous forest...
...most obviously adaptive evolutionary gifts are probably borne by the lemur, the family of small primates found only on Madagascar. The largest lemur, the indri, has humanlike hands and feet that enable it to scamper up the dense tree branches in Madagascar's few remaining intact forests. The graceful brown lemur bounds effortlessly across openings in the canopy and hangs by its knees to graze on leaves. The dextrous and stealthy white and black sifaka has springlike legs that propel it through the forest like a cat, in quiet, arcing leaps. Watching them move is a mesmerizing experience...
...makes sense, then, that sustaining the forests would be the first step in saving the wildlife. For decades in Madagascar, as in much of the world, that has meant the creation of protected parklands like the Réserve Spéciale d'Analamazaotra, where one goes hunting (with cameras) for lemurs. But now scientists recognize that deforestation in tropical countries like Madagascar could be responsible for up to a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions, giving another new incentive to save and expand forests...
...shelter of the forests, and we don't have to cut trees for charcoal," says Herve Tahirimalala, 28, who is paid about $100 a month to work the plantation - a decent wage in one of the poorest nations on Earth. Poverty and habitat loss go hand in hand in Madagascar and in much of the developing world, and only win-win solutions will work for conservation...
...Click here for pictures of Madagascar's flora and fauna. Click here for pictures of primates on the danger list. See TIME's pictures of the week here...