MADAGASCAR
Spiny Thickets

Being a large island, Madagascar has many different types of habitats. The south-west of the island is dry,
and includes dry woodlands, and succulent shrublands and this habitat, often nicknamed the 'Spiny Forest'. This bizarre and distinctive looking ecosystem is endemic to Madagascar. These are unique habitats in a unique country...

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The group of plants that put the name 'spiny' in the forest here are the Didierea. The larger individuals have their long slim branches reach up into the sky, giving them the common name of ‘Octopus Trees’. They are reminiscent of their ecological equivalents, the Cactus of the Americas, (although they look even more like the completely unrelated south-west 'Ocotillo' Fouquieria splendens of the North American south-west).

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There are lots of other species of plants that are have evolved adaptations to the dry south-west corner of Madagascar, and do not naturally occur anywhere else outside of the country. Below is an image of the flowers of Uncarina stellulifera. This genus is famous for producing nasty spiked fruits called 'mousetraps'. It has been suggested that they evolved these notoriously hooked spines to catch onto the feet of giant 'Elephant Birds', extinct animals that were endemic to Madagascar. 

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In arid habitats around the world, it is not rare to see different lizards scuttling along the sand. One of the more commonly seen species here is the 'Three-eyed Lizard' Chalarodon madagascariensis. It is so named because it has a diistinct dark spot on top of the head, a parietal/pineal eye. Most lizards have this, but in this species it quite marked. It is endemic to the dry forest, spiny forest and succulent shrublands of southern and western Madagascar.

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Chameleons are are found across Madagascar, and different species have evolved to live in different habitats, including the arid biomes.

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Couas are yet another group that is found only in Madagascar. They are large cuckoos specialised to live on the ground in rainforest and drier habitats. They are several species that can be found in the spiny forest.

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Places to experience the Madagascar desert shrublands

Much of the natural Spiny thickets in southern Madagascar have been cleared. Most people who explore this habitat have to go to protected fenced off areas such as the Arboretum d'Antsokay, accessible from the town of Tulear or Toliara.

An edited version of one of my introductory lectures that I give on expedition ships about the people of Madagascar

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