If Madagascar’s endangered species became extinct, it would take 23 million years for mammal diversity to return to the diversity that existed before humans settled in Madagascar, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications.
Madagascar broke away from the mainland about 80 million years ago. As a result, an extraordinary variety of plants and animals developed on the island in the Indian Ocean. The settlement of the island by humans about 2,500 years ago led to the extinction of about 30 species of mammals, including giant lemurs and elephant birds.
If species extinctions were stopped now, it would take three million years for fauna to recover, the now-published study finds. However, if the 128 mammals currently considered endangered also become extinct, that period would be extended to 23 million years, paleontologists from Madagascar, Europe and the US involved in the study warned.
Lemurs are one of the endangered species in Madagascar. According to the World Conservation Union IUCN, more than a hundred subspecies of primates are considered endangered in 2020.
“If Madagascar’s endemic fauna and flora become extinct, the ecosystems on the island will collapse,” said Luis Lima Valente, one of the study’s co-authors. “This will have a dramatic impact on the livelihoods of people in the region, leading to famine and mass emigration.” If action is taken now to protect species, there is a chance “to save millions of years of evolution”.
(SDA)