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51-454: The forest goes through two general seasons each year: the dry season, from March to December, and the rainy season, from December to March. The forest is home to a wide variety of animals, from lemurs and fossas to geckos and chameleons , and numerous birds, the majority of which are found nowhere else. Many species of iconic plants are also found in the region, from baobabs and spiny palms to Alluaudia and euphorbs . In its infancy,

102-536: A bottle shaped trunk with major horizontal branches. It can range between 5 and 20 meters. The Adansonia za , a tall tree that ranges from 20 to 30 meters also grows in the forest. Another baobab species endemic to the forest is the Adansonia grandidieri , also known as Grandidier's baobab. This endemic tree is the biggest of the six species of baobab. Measuring up to 30 meters. These trees and plants develop an important number of fruits yearly which are contributing to

153-714: A family of giant, primitive, python-like snakes, was around until 50,000 years ago in Australia, represented by genera such as Wonambi . Recent molecular studies support the monophyly of the clades of modern snakes, scolecophidians, typhlopids + anomalepidids, alethinophidians, core alethinophidians, uropeltids ( Cylindrophis , Anomochilus , uropeltines), macrostomatans, booids, boids, pythonids and caenophidians. While snakes are limbless reptiles, evolved from (and grouped with) lizards, there are many other species of lizards that have lost their limbs independently but which superficially look similar to snakes. These include

204-415: A medium-sized, cat-like member of the mongoose family, is the apex predator of Kirindy (and indeed all of Madagascar), apart from humans; its diet is largely made-up of lemurs, and the primates are constantly on the lookout for prowling fossas. According to, by 2050, the fossa will be driven to extinction if the deforestation rates continue to climb. The Malagasy giant jumping rat ( Hypogeomys antimena )

255-661: A minor component of the North American fauna, but during the Miocene, the number of species and their prevalence increased dramatically with the first appearances of vipers and elapids in North America and the significant diversification of Colubridae (including the origin of many modern genera such as Nerodia , Lampropeltis , Pituophis , and Pantherophis ). There is fossil evidence to suggest that snakes may have evolved from burrowing lizards, during

306-414: A positive cladistical correlation, although some of these features are shared with varanids. Genetic studies in recent years have indicated snakes are not as closely related to monitor lizards as was once believed—and therefore not to mosasaurs, the proposed ancestor in the aquatic scenario of their evolution. However, more evidence links mosasaurs to snakes than to varanids. Fragmented remains found from

357-465: A quicker natural regeneration process. It has been stated that fires in the Kirindy Forest tend to impact both the forest structure altering it's biodiversity of both Fauna and Flora but also the middle forest layer. According to scientists, the forest can recover within 12 years of a fire disturbance incident by respecting the tree density, basal area and species richness and diversity. However,

408-520: A short tail remains of the caudal vertebrae. However, the tail is still long enough to be of important use in many species, and is modified in some aquatic and tree-dwelling species. Many modern snake groups originated during the Paleocene , alongside the adaptive radiation of mammals following the extinction of (non-avian) dinosaurs . The expansion of grasslands in North America also led to an explosive radiation among snakes. Previously, snakes were

459-420: Is a finer one, barely visible; the cavities are connected internally, separated only by a membrane with nerves that are extraordinarily attuned to detecting temperature changes between. As in the overlapping vision fields of human eyes, the forward-facing pit on either side of the face combined produces a field of vision: a pit viper can distinguish between objects and their environments, as well as accurately judge

510-415: Is adapted for burrowing and its stomach indicates that it was preying on other animals. It is currently uncertain if Tetrapodophis is a snake or another species, in the squamate order, as a snake-like body has independently evolved at least 26 times. Tetrapodophis does not have distinctive snake features in its spine and skull. A study in 2021 places the animal in a group of extinct marine lizards from

561-548: Is also home to the Antsohy tomato frog’, another amphibian of the microhylidae family. The Mantellidae family has been newly defined and is said to be the largest lineage of frogs on Madagascar. Madagascar has both the largest and smallest species of Chameleons in the world, the forest being home to two species. The Furcifer nicosiai that can only be found in the Kirindy Forest and in the Tsingy de Bemaraha. The Furcifer oustaleti ,

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612-476: Is associated with DNA mutations in the Zone of Polarizing Activity Regulatory Sequence (ZRS), a regulatory region of the sonic hedgehog gene which is critically required for limb development. More advanced snakes have no remnants of limbs, but basal snakes such as pythons and boas do have traces of highly reduced, vestigial hind limbs. Python embryos even have fully developed hind limb buds, but their later development

663-461: Is based on morphological characteristics and mitochondrial DNA sequence similarity. Alethinophidia is sometimes split into Henophidia and Caenophidia , with the latter consisting of "colubroid" snakes ( colubrids , vipers , elapids , hydrophiids , and atractaspids ) and acrochordids, while the other alethinophidian families comprise Henophidia. While not extant today, the Madtsoiidae ,

714-649: Is endangered due to multiple factors, such as habitat loss, slow gestation or reproductive rates, and gradually human-limited range. The Kirindy Forest may be the best-known (if not the only) location where the species still occurs. This endemic rat can hop, like a miniature kangaroo (though it is not a marsupial ), but is also seen walking on all four limbs. Madagascar is home to a great number of endemic species, Ninety‐nine per cent of Madagascar's known amphibians and 95% of Madagascar's reptiles are endemic. Kirindy Forest has around 50 species of reptiles, including 11 species of snakes and 7 species of chameleons . Some of

765-459: Is not universal (see Amphisbaenia , Dibamidae , and Pygopodidae ). Living snakes are found on every continent except Antarctica, and on most smaller land masses; exceptions include some large islands, such as Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, and the islands of New Zealand, as well as many small islands of the Atlantic and central Pacific oceans. Additionally, sea snakes are widespread throughout

816-624: Is potent enough to cause painful injury or death to humans. Nonvenomous snakes either swallow prey alive or kill by constriction . The English word snake comes from Old English snaca , itself from Proto-Germanic * snak-an- ( cf. Germanic Schnake 'ring snake', Swedish snok 'grass snake'), from Proto-Indo-European root * (s)nēg-o- 'to crawl to creep', which also gave sneak as well as Sanskrit nāgá 'snake'. The word ousted adder , as adder went on to narrow in meaning, though in Old English næddre

867-585: Is relatively poor because snake skeletons are typically small and fragile making fossilization uncommon. Fossils readily identifiable as snakes (though often retaining hind limbs) first appear in the fossil record during the Cretaceous period. The earliest known true snake fossils (members of the crown group Serpentes) come from the marine simoliophiids , the oldest of which is the Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian age) Haasiophis terrasanctus from

918-816: Is stopped by the DNA mutations in the ZRS. There are about 3,900 species of snakes, ranging as far northward as the Arctic Circle in Scandinavia and southward through Australia. Snakes can be found on every continent except Antarctica, as well as in the sea, and as high as 16,000 feet (4,900 m) in the Himalayan Mountains of Asia. There are numerous islands from which snakes are absent, such as Ireland , Iceland , and New Zealand (although New Zealand's northern waters are infrequently visited by

969-479: The Cretaceous Period . An early fossil snake relative, Najash rionegrina , was a two-legged burrowing animal with a sacrum , and was fully terrestrial . Najash , which lived 95 million years ago, also had a skull with several features typical for lizards, but had evolved some of the mobile skull joints that define the flexible skull in most modern snakes. The species did not show any resemblances to

1020-558: The Jurassic and Early Cretaceous indicate deeper fossil records for these groups, which may potentially refute either hypothesis. Both fossils and phylogenetic studies demonstrate that snakes evolved from lizards , hence the question became which genetic changes led to limb loss in the snake ancestor. Limb loss is actually very common in extant reptiles and has happened dozens of times within skinks , anguids , and other lizards. In 2016, two studies reported that limb loss in snakes

1071-632: The Jurassic period, with the earliest known fossils dating to between 143 and 167  Ma ago. The diversity of modern snakes appeared during the Paleocene epoch ( c.  66 to 56 Ma ago, after the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event ). The oldest preserved descriptions of snakes can be found in the Brooklyn Papyrus . Most species of snake are nonvenomous and those that have venom use it primarily to kill and subdue prey rather than for self-defense. Some possess venom that

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1122-534: The West Bank , dated to between 112 and 94 million years old. Based on genomic analysis it is certain that snakes descend from lizards . This conclusion is also supported by comparative anatomy , and the fossil record. Pythons and boas —primitive groups among modern snakes—have vestigial hind limbs: tiny, clawed digits known as anal spurs , which are used to grasp during mating. The families Leptotyphlopidae and Typhlopidae also possess remnants of

1173-603: The rainy season typically takes place from November - December to March - April. Some precipitations can be observed during this season which makes, the forest that makes access more difficult, hard to access. The annual rainfall is concentrated throughout the brief rainy season with an average of approximately 800mm of rainfall every year in the region. Temperatures range yearly between 19 °C and 40 °C((104 °F)) with an annual mean of 25 °C. The animal life of Kirindy includes over 65 species of reptiles and amphibians , 55 species of birds and 31 species of mammals,

1224-479: The slowworm , glass snake , and amphisbaenians . Leptotyphlopidae Gerrhopilidae Typhlopidae Xenophidiidae Anomalepididae Aniliidae Tropidophiidae Xenopeltidae Loxocemidae Pythonidae Boidae Bolyeridae Xenophidiidae Uropeltidae Anomochilidae Cylindrophiidae Acrochordidae Xenodermidae Pareidae Viperidae Homalopsidae Colubridae Lamprophiidae Elapidae The fossil record of snakes

1275-450: The suborder Serpentes ( / s ɜːr ˈ p ɛ n t iː z / ). Like all other squamates , snakes are ectothermic , amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales . Many species of snakes have skulls with several more joints than their lizard ancestors, enabling them to swallow prey much larger than their heads ( cranial kinesis ). To accommodate their narrow bodies, snakes' paired organs (such as kidneys) appear one in front of

1326-434: The yellow-bellied sea snake and the banded sea krait ). The now extinct Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 m (42 ft) in length. By comparison, the largest extant snakes are the reticulated python , measuring about 6.95 m (22.8 ft) long, and the green anaconda , which measures about 5.21 m (17.1 ft) long and is considered the heaviest snake on Earth at 97.5 kg (215 lb). At

1377-508: The Cretaceous period known as dolichosaurs and not directly related to snakes. An alternative hypothesis, based on morphology , suggests the ancestors of snakes were related to mosasaurs —extinct aquatic reptiles from the Cretaceous —forming the clade Pythonomorpha . According to this hypothesis, the fused, transparent eyelids of snakes are thought to have evolved to combat marine conditions (corneal water loss through osmosis), and

1428-584: The Hox gene expression in the axial skeleton responsible for the development of the thorax became dominant. As a result, the vertebrae anterior to the hindlimb buds (when present) all have the same thoracic-like identity (except from the atlas , axis , and 1–3 neck vertebrae). In other words, most of a snake's skeleton is an extremely extended thorax. Ribs are found exclusively on the thoracic vertebrae. Neck, lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are very reduced in number (only 2–10 lumbar and pelvic vertebrae are present), while only

1479-527: The Indian and Pacific oceans. Around thirty families are currently recognized, comprising about 520 genera and about 3,900 species . They range in size from the tiny, 10.4 cm-long (4.1 in) Barbados threadsnake to the reticulated python of 6.95 meters (22.8 ft) in length. The fossil species Titanoboa cerrejonensis was 12.8 meters (42 ft) long. Snakes are thought to have evolved from either burrowing or aquatic lizards, perhaps during

1530-698: The area was called the Swiss people ’s forest ("la foret des Suisses"), as a Swiss company owns the piece of land. The Kirindy forest is located in western Madagascar, within the Kirindy Mitea National Park . It is situated 700 km away from the capital of the country, Antananarivo . Located in Central Menabe, it is part of a conservation priority area. The forest is in the Toliara (Tuléar) Province, situated 60 km south-west of

1581-536: The biodiversity of the forest. By the beginning of the rainy season, these fruits contain both seeds and pulp of high nutritive value which attract many insects and animals . The fruits produced in the Kirindy Forest are mainly baobab tree fruits. These fruits usually ripe from the end of the dry season. They are rich in vitamin C. They are used for human food and livestock. They are also eaten by lemurs . The fruits contain seeds and roots that are little used. They can however be sold in Toliara . Another common fruit in

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1632-531: The ears. Some primitive snakes are known to have possessed hindlimbs, but their pelvic bones lacked a direct connection to the vertebrae. These include fossil species like Haasiophis , Pachyrhachis and Eupodophis , which are slightly older than Najash . This hypothesis was strengthened in 2015 by the discovery of a 113-million-year-old fossil of a four-legged snake in Brazil that has been named Tetrapodophis amplectus . It has many snake-like features,

1683-464: The expatriates and Malagasy “elites”. These conversions have been a threat to the local population and fauna and flora of the region. The forest in particular has been impacted. The loss of faunal diversity is worsened by forest fragmentation. As the forest patches are too small to support viable populations. Mass deforestation remains present within the Kirindy region and has significantly increased in

1734-621: The external ears were lost through disuse in an aquatic environment. This ultimately led to an animal similar to today's sea snakes . In the Late Cretaceous , snakes recolonized land, and continued to diversify into today's snakes. Fossilized snake remains are known from early Late Cretaceous marine sediments, which is consistent with this hypothesis; particularly so, as they are older than the terrestrial Najash rionegrina . Similar skull structure, reduced or absent limbs, and other anatomical features found in both mosasaurs and snakes lead to

1785-410: The fires. It is said that thousands of kilometres of forest are burnt down each year for the development of agriculture. Fires in the Kirindy forest are mainly caused by hunters, honey collectors or cattle breeders. Between 1984 and 2009 more than 83 hectares of forest were burnt down during the dry season (from May to October). Despite these recurrent fires, the more open canopy of the trees present allow

1836-744: The forest and threatened much of its biodiversity. According to Whitehurst et al., 2009, Reforestation is the only apparent solution to preventing and reversing species loss. For now, all reforestation processes are natural. No initiatives of reforestation are on the way. Lemuridae Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.237 via cp1104 cp1104, Varnish XID 213058939 Upstream caches: cp1104 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:53:38 GMT Snake Snakes are elongated, limbless reptiles of

1887-665: The forest is the Baudouinia fluggeiformis Baill. The highest rate of deforestation in Madagascar between 2000 and 2005 was observed in spiny and dry forests. With rates respectively, at 1.11% and 0.42% per year.The region has also suffered from a really high rate of deforestation with more than 30% of the spiny forest lost between 1970 and 2000. In the last 20 years, the local population of Central Menabe has been subject to marginalisation since more than 40000 ha of land were converted into rice fields. These fields were granted to

1938-471: The forest remains truly damaged as even 27 years later, the composition of the forest is still significantly different and altered. The Kirindy forest has also been threatened in the past by various natural disasters such as cyclones and hurricanes . The latest one being Cyclone Fanele , assessed as a category 3 storm. with sustained winds of 185 km/h and gusts up to 260 km/h according to Reunion Meteo France. This cyclone had an immediate impact on

1989-588: The forest reserve was operated based on a sustainable timber harvesting experiment, as deforestation is an issue which has not left the region unaffected. It is said, in Malagasy culture, that the forest was named ‘Kirindy’ long ago, meaning "dense forest with wild animals". As it is located in the northern area of the Kirindy Mitea National Park, the forest is also known as "Kirindy Nord", or ‘northern Kirindy’. Before being renamed Kirindy,

2040-548: The forest. They can all be grouped into three different families. The Ptychadenidae with the Ptychadena mascareniensis , a frog ranging between 35 and 40mm. This species is active throughout the day. The Mocquardʹs rain frog’ is part of the Microhylidae family. It is one of Madagascar's smallest amphibians. It is active at night only during the rainy season. The frog spends the dry season buried underground. The forest

2091-437: The head, between the nostrils and the eyes. In fact the pit looks like an extra pair of nostrils. All snakes have the ability to sense warmth with touch and heat receptors like other animals ;however, the highly developed pit of the pit vipers is distinctive. Each pit is made of a pit cavity and an inner cavity, the larger one lies just behind and generally below the level of the nostril, and opens forward. Behind this larger cavity

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2142-618: The largest chameleon in the world as it can reach a total length of 680mm. Madagascar is known to have a very rich flora with thousands of different species of trees and plants. The Kirindy forest is home to much endemic flora. Three main species of baobab trees can be found there. Most of the canopy top is about 14 meters in height, but in wetter parts (e.g. in riparian zones ) it may almost triple in vertical extent. There are three species of baobab trees present: Adansonia grandidieri , Adansonia rubrostipa and Adansonia za . The Adansonia rubrostipa also known as fony baobab. It usually has

2193-519: The last few years. Around 1000 hectares of forest were deforested each year from between 2000 and 2009. By 2014, this number had risen to 4000 hectares per year. Due to a record number of fires , the loss of forests could reach 44.9% in 2020 and 83.1% by 2025. Many human - induced fires are also a source of endangerment to the Forest. Many factors such as forest layers, structure, species, richness, diversity, and composition are damaged and disturbed due to

2244-491: The local reptiles present are: Labord's chameleon, various plated lizards, Henkel's leaf-tailed gecko, big-headed gecko, Madagascar ground boa, giant hog-nosed snake, spear-nosed snake and kapidolo. 99 per cent of Madagascar's frogs are endemic. This high rate of endemicity is due to the isolation of the island and the fact that it has experienced insularity for a long time. About 4 per cent of the world's anuran species are found only in Madagascar. Various amphibians are present in

2295-479: The majority of them found nowhere else on earth . There are a number of species of unique lemurs present, many of them nocturnal or crepuscular : The Madame Berthe's mouse lemur ( Microcebus berthae ) is a diminutive, shy and nocturnal primate. This lemur is the smallest primate in the world (Gron 2009). The red-tailed sportive lemur is also present in the forest, a nocturnal lemur that weighs, on average, 800 g. Other mammals at Kirindy include: The fossa,

2346-545: The modern burrowing blind snakes, which have often been seen as the most primitive group of extant forms. One extant analog of these putative ancestors is the earless monitor Lanthanotus of Borneo (though it is also semiaquatic ). Subterranean species evolved bodies streamlined for burrowing, and eventually lost their limbs. According to this hypothesis, features such as the transparent , fused eyelids ( brille ) and loss of external ears evolved to cope with fossorial difficulties, such as scratched corneas and dirt in

2397-575: The other end of the scale, the smallest extant snake is Leptotyphlops carlae , with a length of about 10.4 cm (4.1 in). Most snakes are fairly small animals, approximately 1 m (3.3 ft) in length. Some of the most highly developed sensory systems are found in the Crotalidae, or pit vipers—the rattlesnakes and their associates. Pit vipers have all the sense organs of other snakes, as well as additional aids. Pit refers to special infrared-sensitive receptors located on either side of

2448-515: The other instead of side by side, and most have only one functional lung . Some species retain a pelvic girdle with a pair of vestigial claws on either side of the cloaca . Lizards have independently evolved elongate bodies without limbs or with greatly reduced limbs at least twenty-five times via convergent evolution , leading to many lineages of legless lizards . These resemble snakes, but several common groups of legless lizards have eyelids and external ears, which snakes lack, although this rule

2499-451: The pelvic girdle, appearing as horny projections when visible. Front limbs are nonexistent in all known snakes. This is caused by the evolution of their Hox genes , controlling limb morphogenesis . The axial skeleton of the snakes' common ancestor, like most other tetrapods, had regional specializations consisting of cervical (neck), thoracic (chest), lumbar (lower back), sacral (pelvic), and caudal (tail) vertebrae. Early in snake evolution,

2550-526: The town of Morondava and approximately 21 km east of Belo‐sur‐Mer. Located at 44°39'E and 200 03'S. The Kirindy Forest is said to be one of the largest areas of protected dry forest in Madagascar. It is known for having a unique level of biodiversity. The Krindy Forest's climate is highly seasonal and tropical . The cold and dry season generally takes place from March - April to November - December of each year. A season during which most trees shed their leaves. The wet and hot season, also referred to as

2601-575: Was the general word for snake. The other term, serpent , is from French, ultimately from Indo-European * serp- 'to creep', which also gave Ancient Greek ἕρπω ( hérpō ) 'I crawl' and Sanskrit sarpá ‘snake’. All modern snakes are grouped within the suborder Serpentes in Linnean taxonomy , part of the order Squamata , though their precise placement within squamates remains controversial. The two infraorders of Serpentes are Alethinophidia and Scolecophidia . This separation

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