Publisher's Synopsis
The origins of Madagascar's unique flora and fauna have occupied scientists since the acceptance of evolution. This publication explores the question of how lemurs came to reach their current geographic distribution. Contributors from a range of disciplines sought to answer the following questions: - What is our best estimate of the timing and sequence of continental movements in and around the Indian Ocean? - Is there evidence of connections that could have served as migration routes between land masses, and when might they have been present? - What does the nonprimate vertebrate fauna on Madagascar indicate about the timing and direction of potential dispersal routes? - What does the fossil record imply about the biology of early lemuriforms and their relatives? - What does molecular phylogenetics indicate about relationships among living lemuriforms, and what does this imply about the lemuriform and lemuroid ancestors? - What can biogeographic methods contribute to our understanding of lemuriform origins? - Is there any evidence that the capacity for heterothermy has assisted overwater dispersal in mammals? The multidisciplinary nature of the contributions to this volume make it uniquely valuable to primatologists (and primate evolutionists in particular), evolutionary biologists and biogeographers.
