Madagascar November 2015

[Gabriela]

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.

I would have climbed the trees for sure! You are right, you have to see it in the real to understand. At NYBG the flowers were hanging low in the Glasshouse and so I touch them (although not allowed  just to make sure they were real!

[Steve Garvie]

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!

(Attachment Link)

If taken in Isalo NP then I think Anthony is correct & this is a young Ph. standingi.
The smaller species is probably Ph. lineata.

[Hoy]

I had not quite finished when Christmas arrived but it is not many left to show. 
More from the rainforest - all unknown.

Along the road, not a real forest dweller.




A little tarn.




It was a lot of creeks and rivers in the rainforests.




A rather big Selaginella relative in the shade forest floor.




Often the flowers are high up in the canopy but some do it another way.

[Hoy]

An unexpected Sisyrinchium-like plant. I don't know whether it is native or not.




View.




Orchids and cactus on the trunks.




A fig tree. Fruits directly on the trunk.

[Hoy]

Probably Dichaetanthera sp




Frogs.








Fruit bats.

[Gabriela]

Did you put the bats at the end on purpose Trond? I scrolled down expecting another cute, colorful frog and I got startled by those big eyes!

[fermi de Sousa]

An unexpected Sisyrinchium-like plant. I don't know whether it is native or not.

From the appearance of the seed capsule I'd suspect it's another Aristea.
I hope none of those frogs were the poisonous skinned type!
cheers
fermi

[Steve Garvie]

More great images Trond!!!

The wee puddocks (frogs) are Mantellas.
The one on the leaf looks like Mantella betsileo whilst the other is Mantella pulchra. There are about 15 described Mantella species; a few produce cutaneous toxins like the better-known South American Dendrobates (Poison-dart frogs). At least one of the Mantella sp. (Mantella laevigata) has complex breeding behaviour involving individual tadpole care where the tadpoles are sequestered in tiny pools of water and are fed non-fertilised eggs by their mother whilst the male guards the territory and moves any tadpoles when their personal pool is at risk of drying out. Sadly all of the Mantellas are threatened by habitat destruction and alien anuran fungal infections.

[Hoy]

Did you put the bats at the end on purpose Trond? I scrolled down expecting another cute, colorful frog and I got startled by those big eyes!

Yes, of course I did

Here's a few more for you.

[Hoy]

From the appearance of the seed capsule I'd suspect it's another Aristea.
I hope none of those frogs were the poisonous skinned type!
cheers
fermi

Yes, I was thinking of that. The flowers were not quite like a Sisyrinchium.



The guide picked the frogs up so I don't think they were very dangerous.

[Hoy]

More great images Trond!!!

The wee puddocks (frogs) are Mantellas.
The one on the leaf looks like Mantella betsileo whilst the other is Mantella pulchra. There are about 15 described Mantella species; a few produce cutaneous toxins like the better-known South American Dendrobates (Poison-dart frogs). At least one of the Mantella sp. (Mantella laevigata) has complex breeding behaviour involving individual tadpole care where the tadpoles are sequestered in tiny pools of water and are fed non-fertilised eggs by their mother whilst the male guards the territory and moves any tadpoles when their personal pool is at risk of drying out. Sadly all of the Mantellas are threatened by habitat destruction and alien anuran fungal infections.

Thanks Steve.

It was not easy to picture the frogs as they tried to leap all the time. We spotted several frogs, often inside big plants like Pandanus sp. with water captured in the rosette.

[Hoy]

Leaf tailed geckos. We did disturb them so the camouflage do not fit very well!






We also spotted several snakes. None are dangerous to humans though (we were told).




The biggest lemur, Indri indri. It has a very loud song which we heard standing only a few meters away Even with only a short tail it was a extremely skilled climber and leapt several meters from tree to tree.




Bamboo lemur.

[Hoy]

Conks. I had expected more fungi than we found but maybe it was too early in the season.




Sifaka lemurs.






Tried this position when eating?

[Hoy]

Black eyed Susan Thunbergia alata is a native of eastern Africa but spread to all over the world.




Last stop before going home.




When we arrived in Antananarivo we were met by a thunderstorm and flood. We were anxious not to reach our plane but this kind of weather is normal in the rainy season so our guide said "calm down"







End of story - and we hit the flight

[Steve Garvie]

It looks like you have two species of Leaf-tailed Gecko there Trond. The second image is I think
Uroplatus sikorae whilst the first shows two adult Uroplatus fimbriatus.

I think the snake is a Madagascar Ground boa (probably Acrantophis madagascariensis but perhaps Acrantophis dumerili). Strangely Madagascar has no pythons. The large constricting snakes on the island are Boas and are related to the Neotropical Boa Constrictor & Anacondas. They produce live young rather than laying eggs. The presence of Boas on Madagascar is one of the many puzzles of the biology of this bizarre "lost continent".