BACKGROUND The seasonal drivers of influenza activity remain debated in tropical settings where epidemics are not clearly phased. Antananarivo is a particularly interesting case study because it is in Madagascar, an island situated in the tropics and with quantifiable connectivity levels to other countries. OBJECTIVES We aimed at disentangling the role of environmental forcing and population ...

New records of 38 species of the Conopid genera Paramyopa Kröber, 1916a, Pseudoconops Camras, 1962b, Stylogaster Macquart, 1835, Thecophora Rondani, 1845, and Zodion Latreille, 1797 are presented from the Afrotropical Region. Stylogaster angolensis spec. nov. (Angola), Stylogaster cryptica spec. nov. (Ethiopia), Stylogaster fianarantsoensis spec. nov. (Madagascar), Stylogaster ivindoensis spec....

The flea genus Araeopsylla Jordan and Rothschild, 1921 contains nine species distributed throughout the Palaearctic, Ethiopian and Oriental Regions primarily on mollosid bats. A new species of bat flea, Araeopsylla goodmani, is described. This new species is represented by three females collected from one male specimen of the mollosid bat Chaerephon jobimena Goodman & Cardiff, 2004 from Fianara...

The Madagascar plover Charadrius thoracicus is a shorebird endemic to western Madagascar, currently classified as globally vulnerable. It is restricted to specialized wetland habitats that are increasingly threatened by humans. To inform future conservation measures for this poorly known species, we develop a predictive habitat suitability map and use this map to estimate the size of the Madaga...

The critically endangered Madagascar fish-eagle (Haliaeetus vociferoides) is considered to be one of the rarest birds of prey globally and at significant risk of extinction. In the most recent census, only 222 adult individuals were recorded with an estimated total breeding population of no more than 100-120 pairs. Here, levels of Madagascar fish-eagle population genetic diversity based on 47 m...

1. Swanepoel R, Coetzer JAW. Rift Valley fever. In: Coetzer JAW, Thomson GR, Tustin RC, editors. Infectious diseases of livestock. Oxford (UK): Oxford University Press; 2004. p. 1037–70. 2. Olive MM, Goodman SM, Reynes JM. The role of the wild mammals in the maintenance of Rift Valley fever virus. J Wildl Dis. 2012;48:241–66. 3. Fontenille D. Arbovirus transmission cycles in Madagascar [in Fren...

The purpose of the present study is to get a better knowledge of the Malagasy indigenous race of hen through its egg physical characteristics and its laying performance in order to promote villager poultry production. This study was undertaken within a local family farm, of the rural Township of Ambalamahasoa, Haute Matsiatra Region, Madagascar, with 25 hens and 4 roosters in age to reproduce. ...

Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C. Hamrick, M.W., Simons, E.L., Jungers, W.L. 2000. New wrist bones of the Malagasy giant subfossil lemurs. J. Human Evol. 38: 635-650. Jernvall, J.; Wright, P.C.; Simons, E.L. 2003. Report on findings of subfossils at Ampoza and Ampanihy in southwestern Madagascar. Lemur News 8: 21-23. Martin, L.D.; Gilbert, B.M. 1978. Escavations at Natural Trap Ca...

The emerging infectious disease chytridiomycosis is driven by the spread of amphibian chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, Bd), a highly virulent pathogen threatening global amphibian biodiversity. Although pandemic in distribution, previous intensive field surveys have failed to detect Bd in Madagascar, a biodiversity hotspot home to hundreds of endemic amphibian species. Due to the...