Astounding Facts About Primates that Never Cease to Amaze
1. Madagascar is home to the world’s lemurs.
Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is the fourth-largest island in the world and the only native habitat for lemurs. Lemurs are primates that look like monkeys. However, because their native habitat is an island, they evolved entirely independently of their genetic cousins. Humans arrived on Madagascar a mere 2000 years ago. At that point, there were enormous lemurs the size of gorillas. The larger lemurs went extinct due to human activity. Nevertheless, many kinds of smaller lemurs dominate the island they call home. Still, they are one of the world’s most endangered species. Lemurs face the imminent risk of extinction within the next few years.
There is a puzzling question as to how lemurs evolved on Madagascar, as it split off from the mainland of Africa about 160 million years ago. That was far before even the ancestors of Purgatorious had come into existence. So just how did they end up there? Scientists have a theory, of course. A few primates caught a ride on some driftwood, possibly fitted together like a raft. Lemurs traveled the 200-mile voyage to Madagascar within a matter of days. Because they had no predators, their numbers increased very rapidly. Lemurs developed unique adaptations that allowed them to survive and thrive. On the island of Madagascar, they proliferated and evolved into the lemurs that populate every terrestrial ecosystem on the island today.
Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Africa. It is the fourth-largest island in the world and the only native habitat for lemurs. Lemurs are primates that look like monkeys. However, because their native habitat is an island, they evolved entirely independently of their genetic cousins. Humans arrived on Madagascar a mere 2000 years ago. At that point, there were enormous lemurs the size of gorillas. The larger lemurs went extinct due to human activity. Nevertheless, many kinds of smaller lemurs dominate the island they call home. Still, they are one of the world’s most endangered species. Lemurs face the imminent risk of extinction within the next few years.
There is a puzzling question as to how lemurs evolved on Madagascar, as it split off from the mainland of Africa about 160 million years ago. That was far before even the ancestors of Purgatorious had come into existence. So just how did they end up there? Scientists have a theory, of course. A few primates caught a ride on some driftwood, possibly fitted together like a raft. Lemurs traveled the 200-mile voyage to Madagascar within a matter of days. Because they had no predators, their numbers increased very rapidly. Lemurs developed unique adaptations that allowed them to survive and thrive. On the island of Madagascar, they proliferated and evolved into the lemurs that populate every terrestrial ecosystem on the island today.
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13 September 2022
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