Chronicles the rich human, plant, and animal diversity of this Isle off the East Coast of Africa, home to lemurs, unusual reptiles, and other creatures more at home in mythology than natural science.

"This is a sweeping account of Madagascar past and present, from a land locked in the heart of Gondwana to its emergence as an island, from landscapes populated by dinosaurs to forests filled with the unique array of species alive today, and from a place unknown to people to one where human impact on the environment is a pressing concern. Alison Richard has immersed herself in research and conservation in Madagascar for nearly fifty years, and is an expert guide. Her book, seamlessly integrating scientific research and detailed natural history with personal experiences, shows both what connects this biodiversity hotspot to the rest of the world through time, and what separates it. Along the way, she reflects on how our world views shape the way we interpret evidence and the importance of the stories we tell about Madagascar in our understanding of this unique place and the conservation of its rich natural heritage"--

Endangered Species: Health, Illness and Death among Madagascar's People of the Forest is an ethnographic study of a group of people living in a forested region in Madagascar. These people have been targeted for recent conservation and development initiatives intended to protect species biodiversity. Although international aid dollars are tied to national conservation policy, very little has been written on how these policies are affecting the people who live in Madagascar. Based on anthropological research in a village located on the periphery of a U.S.-funded national park, and further supported with archival and library research, this study shows how concepts of culture have been misused by policy makers to promote park objectives, while misunderstandings arising from the use of ethnic stereotypes have contributed to serious health and economic problems for people living in the forest region. Many policy-makers fail to appreciate the actual ways that people live and farm in the forest, and how they negotiate their quest for health. Janice Harper suggests that lineage and social class rather than ethnic heritage are more relevant to the ways that people access and interact with the land, forest, and strategic resources. How this interaction shapes health and healthcare is one of the most poignant and compelling of many contributions to anthropological knowledge made by this study. This book would be appropriate for use in courses on anthropology, African studies, or environmental studies. This book is part of the Ethnographic Studies in Medical Anthropology Series, edited by Pamela J. Stewart and Andrew Strathern, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh. "It is one of the clearest and most detailed pictures that I have read about the multiple pressures on 'coastal' Malagasy... It is beautifully and horrifyingly written." -- Alison Jolly, author of Lords and Lemurs and Lucy's Legacy "This is a superb book. Harper's deeply nuanced, and carefully historicized ethnography offers a sophisticated and accessible account of the contradictions that characterize conservationists' desire to protect rainforest flora and fauna while also wreaking havoc on indigenous and highly marginalized human communities... Harper must be commended for her diligence as a researcher: it is astonishing how much knowledge one reaps from so succinct a study." -- International Journal of African Historical Studies, Volume 36, Number 1 "This is an important book because national parks, employing exactly the politics described here, exist all over Madagascar. My hope is that people working in development will read this book and be moved to act against the lack of concern for the well-being of the local population as exhibited by the management of the RNP project." -- The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Volume 10, Number 1, March 2004

This book brings together information from recent research, and provides new insight into the study of lemur origins, and the ecology and adaptation of both extant and recently extinct lemurs. In addition, it addresses issues of primate behavioral ecology and how environment can play a major role in explaining species variation. It is the only comprehensive volume to focus on lemur ecology and adaptability, with chapters written by all the big names in the field.

Lemurs share a common distant ancestor with humans. Following their own evolutionary pathway, lemurs provide the ideal model to shed light on the behavioural traits of primates including conflict management, communication strategies and society building and how these aspects of social living relate to those found in the anthropoid primates. Adopting a comparative approach throughout, lemur behaviour is cross-examined with that of monkeys, apes and humans. This book reviews and expands upon the newest fields of research in lemur behavioural biology, including recent analytical approaches that have so far been limited to studies of haplorrhine primates. Different methodological approaches are harmonised in this volume to break conceptual walls between both primate taxa and different disciplines. Through a focus on the methodologies behind lemur behaviour and social interactions, future primate researchers will be encouraged to produce directly comparable results.

This volume includes up-to-date field research on the longest-studied and best known of lemur species. It contains articles by scientists from America, Europe, Japan and Madagascar, who combine their knowledge to describe an animal which is unique among primates. The papers review past research and add new dimensions of research related to nutrition, health, hormonal biology, plant ecology, behavioral ecology, and demography of Lemur catta.

Laminated identification guide illustrating 65 species of extant nocturnal prosimians in Madagascar.