5 - Prosimii

Summary

Superfamily Lemuroidea

Present distribution and habitat

Madagascar is the fourth largest island in the world, situated off the southeast coast of Africa in the southwestern Indian Ocean. Today it is separated from Africa by the 800km wide Mozambique Channel. The most recent evidence suggests that Madagascar parted from Africa 150–160 million years ago along with Antarctica and India. Much later, Madagascar and India broke apart, about 88 million years ago, leaving India to drift northeastward toward Eurasia while Madagascar moved south-southwestward to reach its present position along the east coast of Africa during the Late Cretaceous, about 70–80 million years ago (Krause, Hartman and Wells, 1997). The question of how and when prosimian primates arrived on Madagascar is still being debated (for excellent discussions of these intriguing questions see Krause et al., 1997; Simons, 1997). The only indigenous primates on the island today are prosimians belonging to the superfamily Lemuroidea. There are two seasons on Madagascar: the hot, wet season and the cooler, drier season. Temperatures generally range from 10 to 29°C. The island is essentially mountainous with most species living in the lower forested areas, although Indri is found from sea level to 1300m (Wolfheim, 1983).

The prosimians of Madagascar are often compared with Darwin's finches, which have lived and diversified in isolation on the Galápagos Islands for millions of years.