Reptiles

For a long time, there was only one Common Big-Eyed Snake on Madagascar – or so we all thought. In 2017, researchers from the USA discovered that there is a second species of Common Big-Eyed Snake in Madagascar. For centuries, the species had been hidden, even though it lived so obviously in plain sight. Accordingly, the newly discovered species was …

Once hunted for their tortoiseshell, now threatened with extinction Five species of sea turtles are found around Madagascar’s coasts and islands. One of the best known is probably the hawksbill turtle, Eretmochelys imbricata. It is most famous for its tortoiseshell, French caret, a term from the French Antilles. It refers to both the animal itself and the valuable tortoiseshell obtained …

It seems completely unbelievable that there are still lost species that could be rediscovered in the 21st century. But in Madagascar, almost anything is possible. And so in 2020, almost unbelievable news went around the world: A chameleon had been rediscovered after more than a hundred years! The whole story goes back to 1893. At that time, paleontologist Oskar Böttger, …

There are still many geckos on Madagascar whose species status is not completely clear. One of these species is Phelsuma lineata, the Lined Day Gecko. It is named after the black stripe that runs along the side of its body. Currently, four subspecies of the Lined Day Gecko are known, which are distributed all over Madagascar. They differ not only …

A bit scary at first sight, but actually always friendly-minded: Madagascar Ground Boas are the largest snakes in Madagascar. Especially large females on Nosy Mangabe reach up to 15 kilograms bodyweight! Nevertheless, Madagascar boas are completely harmless to humans. There are two species of Acrantophis: the Malagasy Ground Boa (Acrantophis madagascariensis) lives in the humid north of the island, while …

Madagascar’s reptiles offer many a superlative. The smallest lizard in the world, the most colorful chameleons, the smallest iguana, the rarest tortoise – all that is missing is a record-breaking gecko. The Giant Leaf-tailed Gecko (Uroplatus giganteus) fills exactly this gap. It measures up to 34.5 cm and is thus the second largest gecko in the world. The giants among …

The hot south is the home of a small and very pretty gecko, the Madagascar Ground Gecko (Paroedura picta). It inhabits spiny and dry forests around Toliara (French: Tuléar) down to the bay of St. Augustin. The somewhat wetter valley along the river Onilahy is also populated. Even further south the species occurs as far as Berenty and Amboasary Sud …

In Madagascar, no one needs to be afraid of snakes. One of the most common snakes in the west and south of the island is the Common Big-Eyed Snake (Mimophis mahfalensis). But it is also one of the most harmless snakes that only bite in the worst of times. If you simply watch it, you will discover exciting behaviours. The …

It actually isn’t really big, but at least clearly the biggest in its family: The big Cuvier’s Madagascar Swift (Oplurus cuvieri) measures a maximum of 38 cm from the nose to the tip of the tail. Alone the scaly tail constitutes good 20 cm of it. Cuvier’s Madagascar Swift belongs to the family of the Madagascar iguana, that there is …