The energetics of a Malagasy rodent, Macrotarsomys ingens (Nesomyinae): a test of island and zoogeographical effects on metabolism.

This study provides first insights into the energetics of the Nesomyinae, a subfamily of rodents endemic to Madagascar. The ancestral nesomyine colonized Madagascar from Africa ca. 30-15 mya at the onset of Oligocene global cooling.

An endogenous bile acid and dietary sucrose from skin secretions of alkaloid-sequestering poison frogs.

The skins of Madagascar poison frogs (Mantella) and certain Neotropical poison frogs (Epipedobates, Dendrobates) secrete the new bile acid tauromantellic acid (1), which was found in both wild-caught and captive-born frogs. This is the first molecule of endogenous origin detected in skin secretions from these taxa. Sucrose was also detected in secretions from wild-caught Mantella but not in captive-born frogs, suggesting a dietary origin.

Hybridization between mouse lemurs in an ecological transition zone in southern Madagascar.

Hybrid zones in ecotones can be useful model systems for the study of evolutionary processes that shape the distribution and discreteness of species. Such studies could be important for an improved understanding of the complex biogeography of Madagascar, which is renowned for its outstanding degree of small-scale endemism. Certain forest remnants in central Madagascar indicate that transitional corridors across the island could have connected microendemics in different forest types in the past.

Growth of the tufted-tailed rat.

Eliurus myoxinus (Rodentia: Nesomyidae, Nesomyinae) is one of the four species of endemic Malagasy rodents known to exist in the Ankarafantsika National Park, northwestern Madagascar. In order to study growth parameters and to determine at which age E. myoxinus commences breeding, we used two different techniques: captive breeding and a capture-mark-release field program in the species' natural habitat.

The ever-increasing diversity in mouse lemurs: three new species in north and northwestern Madagascar.

Mouse lemurs (Microcebus spp.) are the world's smallest primates and endemic to Madagascar. Several recent taxonomic revisions resulted in an extraordinary increase of recognized species.