Madagascar

Although Madagascar is only one of 92 countries containing primates, it plays a key role in primatology, as the island's endemic lemurs make up 21 percent of primate species and 36 percent of all primate families—thus it is one of the top priorities in terms of primate conservation. Equally important, due to the unusual evolution of Madagascar's lemurs, studies of these primates have provided key insights into primate evolution and primate origins, primate behavioral ecology and biology, and primate adaptation. To understand how special Madagascar is for appreciating primate diversity, this island continent must be viewed within an evolutionary, geographical, and historical context.