Animals of Madagascar
The enormous island of Madagascar features a variety of unique ecosystems. The large majority of plants, reptiles and amphibians are “endemic,” or only found in that one place. While the Fuqua Conservatory’s Desert House features plants from drier “xeric” areas of Madagascar, the Garden has never before displayed plants or animals from wetter “mesic” areas of Madagascar.
Pandanus is an important plant in tropical coastlines that defines the area around it by preventing erosion and creating a barrier between more brackish coastal areas and more inland forests; that habitat is represented in this display. The palm in this display is Dypsis minuta, the world’s smallest palm tree, which rarely exceeds 20 inches in height. Other notable Madagascan plants include the terrestrial orchid Oeceoclades spathulifera, the carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes madagascariensis, and Amorphophallus ankarana, which is a small relative of the famous “corpse flower”. Ethically sourcing plants from Madagascar suitable for terrarium conditions was one of the greatest challenges in building the new amphibian displays.
The Mantellas are an excellent example of “convergent evolution”. While scientists used to believe Mantellas must be related to the toxic, brightly colored, diurnal “poison dart frogs” of South America (Dendrobates, Epipedobates, Phyllobates), genetic analysis has proven they haven’t shared a common ancestor in 150 million years. In fact, Mantellas are more closely related to Giant African Bullfrogs than to the South American poison frogs. Both evolved to keep alkaloids (poison) in their bodies after eating ants, millipedes, and beetles. Both groups benefited from bright colors that help predators remember what made them sick. While many frogs are nocturnal to hide, being diurnal became beneficial so predators could see the “aposematic coloration”. So both groups of frogs came to have the same qualities without any recent common ancestor.
This exhibit also lets us explore the differences between reptiles and amphibians. Mantellas share this enclosure with Brookesia chameleons. While Mantellas are frogs (amphibians), the tiny 2 inch Brookesia chameleons are a type of lizard (reptiles). Amphibians like mantellas drink with their skin, so we keep the soil moist for them so they can absorb water and a dry leaf litter layer so they can hydroregulate by getting to dry surfaces when they want. Chameleons, on the other hand, drink with their mouths and are only really interested in moving water, so staff hand mist and also have an automated mist system. Both species are very good at hiding, but most of the time one Brookesia is along the top of the wall where it meets the screen, while another spends most of her time in the back left corner blending into the dried palm frond under the base of the Pandanus roots there. To see another Madagascan reptile species, check out the radiated tortoise in the Desert House.