AND THE INDIAN OCEAN ISLANDSOLUWASEYI AKINSOLA

ANJALI SIVENDRAYANIQUE BELL

ABIJAH MINTONPD.9/10

OVERVIEWHOT SPOT LOCATION

• Series of islands scattered in the western Indian Ocean off the southeast coast of Africa forms the Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands hotspot.• Fourth largest island on Earth.

CLIMATE• Madagascar has two seasons: a hot, rainy season from November to April; and a cooler, dry season from May to October.• High levels of rainfall up to 6000 millimeters per year on Reunion)

POPULATION DENSITY TO EXTINCT SPECIES

• Human Population Density (people/km 2) =32 • Extinct Species= 45

MORE FACTS• Madagascar and the continental Seychelles broke off from the Gondwanaland supercontinent About 160 million years ago, making the hotspot a living example of species evolution in isolation. • Animal groups have evolved with high levels of genus- and family-level endemism, in only 1.9 percent of the land area of continental Africa.

What makes Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands a Hotspot

Hotspot Criteria:Madagascar and the Indian Ocean Islands:

- At least 1,500 endemic species of vascular plants

- At least 70% of its original habitat is gone

At least 13,000 species of vascular plants and 90% (11,700 species) are endemic

About 17% of its original habitat remains in Madagascar

Islands have lost about 80% of their original habitat The center of Madagascar where

there are a few remaining trees from a once flourishing evergreen forest.

Unique BiodiversityPlants:

•13,000 species; 90%

endemic

•Baobab (aka bottle tree)

- 8 species – 6 are

endemic to Madagascar Vertebrates:•Birds: Over 300 species; 60% endemic 55 endemic species are threatened, 32 already extinct•Mammals: About 90% endemic –Well-known for 72

kinds of lemurs that inhabit trees like the bottle tree•Reptiles and Amphibians: 3

epidemic species; popular diversity of chameleons and gorgeous tomato frog•Fishes: about 100 endemic species; mostly freshwater

Invertebrates: •80% endemic

•Ex.: terrestrial snails, scorpions, spiders, tiger

beetles and giant tenebrionid beetle• Seychelles Island is home to the largest millipede and the largest terrestrial invertebrate, the

coconut crab