Madagascar November 2015

[Hoy]

More from the rainforest:




The canopy was interwoven by long, flowering lianas which turned out to be Strongylodon craveniae, a pea relative.






Close up it is easy to see it belongs to the pea family.




The stems were covered by moss of course, orchids, ferns and a lot of other plants. This I believe is a Selaginella sp.

[Hoy]

A little rest in the shade . . .




A gecko chameleon preferred the hiking pole to the trees.




Just outside the border of the national park - and the trees were cut and burnt.




The local bridges.




A farm.

[Hoy]

Some places the meadows were literally covered by this clematis (we have seen it before Clematis falciformis). According to the locals it sprouts always after the grass has been burnt just before the wet season.






A little village.




In the dusk the fauna changed. Some of the shrubs were occupied by hoards of spiders. Some were rather big, at least 10cm. Probably Nephila madagascariensis.




They snared unfortunate big flying beetles.

[Anthony Darby]

That gecko is actually another chameleon.

[Hoy]

That gecko is actually another chameleon.

OK. Thanks. How do you see the difference?

[Hoy]

The valleys were extensively farmed everywhere. Along the rivers and creeks paddies occupied every square inch.






View of a valley. A foreign tree, Jacaranda, was planted along the roads many places.




Blue water-lilies filled this small lake  - Nymphaea caerula.

[Steve Garvie]

OK. Thanks. How do you see the difference?

The quickest way is to check out the feet.
Chameleons have fused toes (3+2 on the front feet & 2+3 on the back) which creates a pincer-like gripping hand whilst Day Geckos, Uroplatus, etc have toe pads such that their feet look like miniature suction pads. The body shape, long prehensile tail & bulbous eyes of chameleons are also distinct.

I can't be certain but I think the chameleon on the climbing pole is a Calumma brevicornis (Elephant Ear Chameleon) as I can just about make out the nape flaps on this dorsal view.

[Robert]

Trond,

The contrast between the rain forest and the cleared areas is quite intense, at least for me. My heart feels sad. It seems that the flora and fauna suffers and most likely the humans too. I am sure that most are optimistic that the situation there will turn out just fine, however I am not one of those. 

I appreciated the comment about how the Clematis falciformis sprouts / or comes into growth after a fire. I think that I will give my seed a smoke treatment. It can not hurt and it might improve germination. As of today there is no action in the seed pan.

I will have to wait on the smoke treatment as it rained all night and heavy rain is expected today and tonight. Maybe our rainfall totals will get back to average to-date.  This time of year we generally get a fair amount of precipitation. We will need to get over 100 mm just to stay average to-date - as of the end of December. Right now it is relatively warm with very high snow levels, 6,000 to 6,500 feet (1,829 to 1,981 meters).  .... then snow is excepted even here at the farm by Thursday - 1,500 feet (457 meters). 

[Gabriela]

Few years ago I was lucky to catch Strongylodon macrobotrys in flower at NY Botanical Garden and I thought it was the most splendid flowering vine.
But it seems its yellow counterpart is equally beautiful!

[Hoy]

The quickest way is to check out the feet.
Chameleons have fused toes (3+2 on the front feet & 2+3 on the back) which creates a pincer-like gripping hand whilst Day Geckos, Uroplatus, etc have toe pads such that their feet look like miniature suction pads. The body shape, long prehensile tail & bulbous eyes of chameleons are also distinct.

I can't be certain but I think the chameleon on the climbing pole is a Calumma brevicornis (Elephant Ear Chameleon) as I can just about make out the nape flaps on this dorsal view.

Yes, I got it! (Actually I remembered that I have heard it before when you told me

Like this:

a gecko






a chameleon

[Hoy]

Trond,

The contrast between the rain forest and the cleared areas is quite intense, at least for me. My heart feels sad. It seems that the flora and fauna suffers and most likely the humans too. I am sure that most are optimistic that the situation there will turn out just fine, however I am not one of those. 

I appreciated the comment about how the Clematis falciformis sprouts / or comes into growth after a fire. I think that I will give my seed a smoke treatment. It can not hurt and it might improve germination. As of today there is no action in the seed pan.

I will have to wait on the smoke treatment as it rained all night and heavy rain is expected today and tonight. Maybe our rainfall totals will get back to average to-date.  This time of year we generally get a fair amount of precipitation. We will need to get over 100 mm just to stay average to-date - as of the end of December. Right now it is relatively warm with very high snow levels, 6,000 to 6,500 feet (1,829 to 1,981 meters).  .... then snow is excepted even here at the farm by Thursday - 1,500 feet (457 meters). 

Robert,

I feel very sad when I think of the deforestation occurring in Madagascar and other parts of the world.

The flora and fauna suffer of course - and the humans will in the future. But when you see it with your own eyes and talk to the people you understand why. A big tree in a forest have no value if you need money to buy something to keep your family alive and healthy and let the children attend school. Then you cut down the tree and make furniture, wooden beams or just charcoal of it to sell. All the orchids and other living things in the tree have no value at all. In the open space you can plant cassava, banana or other edible plants for food. As long as the population increases and with no other way to exploit the forest, this will continue.

Hope you are lucky with the seed! Mine has not germinated either but I wouldn't expect it to happen before spring as they are in a cool place now.

Seems you will get a lot of rain today and on the 24th We have gotten 100mm/4" in two days. The city of Bergen just north of us will set a new all time high this year - more than 3m/10' of precipitation 

[Anthony Darby]

I could be wrong, but that gecko looks very like Phelsuma standingi. I used to breed it in Scotland. It's the only blue Phelsuma sp. I know of.

[Hoy]

Few years ago I was lucky to catch Strongylodon macrobotrys in flower at NY Botanical Garden and I thought it was the most splendid flowering vine.
But it seems its yellow counterpart is equally beautiful!

Gabriela,

You should have seen it! It was quite a sight with those flowering garlands hanging between the trees The forest floor was covered by spent flowers.

[Steve Garvie]

I could be wrong, but that gecko looks very like Phelsuma standingi. I used to breed it in Scotland. It's the only blue Phelsuma sp. I know of.

I don't think that's Ph. standingi as it looks too fine-featured. It could be Ph. dubia.

Wild Ph. standingi is range-restricted being confined to the dry southwest of Madagascar (Andranolaho and Sakaraha).
Ph. dubia is quite adaptable & has spread to a number of places on the west of Madagascar as well as being found on the Comoros, Zanzibar and even the Tanzanian coast.

[Hoy]

I don't think that's Ph. standingi as it looks too fine-featured. It could be Ph. dubia.

Wild Ph. standingi is range-restricted being confined to the dry southwest of Madagascar (Andranolaho and Sakaraha).
Ph. dubia is quite adaptable & has spread to a number of places on the west of Madagascar as well as being found on the Comoros, Zanzibar and even the Tanzanian coast.

Picture is taken in the wild, in Isalo National Park near Maki Canyon, Ihorombe region. According to the map the site is inside the area of Ph. standingi. It was also rather big.


We spotted several of this much smaller species, many places. It was too quick for me!