Parsons chameleon
<p><em>Separated from all other land and biodiversity, Madagascar has a host of endemics, the Earth’s most unique, 90 per cent of which have evolved from speciation. Their origins can be traced back over 80 million years ago, when Madagascar split from the supercontinent Gondwana. The island, along with India, first separated from Africa and South America, and then from Australia and Antarctica. As India merged into Asia, giving rise to the Himalaya, the little island of Madagascar made off on its own into the Indian Ocean. Many plants of the Western Ghats and Madagascar have a common lineage. Primate fossils discovered in Jammu and Kashmir are thought to be from an ancestor of present-day lemurs, one of the most identifiable species of Madagascar found solely on the island, visible now on these pages. We present to you a window into the mesmerising world of Madagascar.</em></p>
<p><span style="font-size:12px;"><strong>Photo: Sachin Rai</strong></span></p>
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