The Eighth Continent: Life, Death, and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar

Amazon.com
Lying some 250 miles off the east coast of Africa, Madagascar is the world's fourth-largest island. It is quite unlike the neighboring continent, and, for that matter, quite unlike any other landmass on the planet. Its plant life is almost wholly endemic: eight out of 10 plants there grow naturally only on Madagascar, and it has an entire ecosystem, the spiny desert, that is found nowhere else on earth. Many of its animal species, too, seem to have emerged from some evolutionary track that runs parallel to the rest of the world's; here can be found lemurs that will fit into a human palm, dwarf hippos, giant chameleons, and other rarities.

These plants and animals constitute an extraordinary diversity, writes science journalist Peter Tyson in this engaging book, and the island's richness of life has long intrigued scientists, who have proposed several theories to explain it. Those scientists, some of whom Tyson profiles at work in the field, are racing against time to catalog island life before it disappears, for Madagascar's human population is rapidly growing, and with that growth, the island's forests and other habitats are falling. The urgency may abate, Tyson writes, with guarded optimism, now that the island's current president has proposed that all of Madagascar be considered as a United Nations World Heritage Site, which would help provide funds to prevent further loss of habitat and diversity. Though this proposal is controversial, Tyson makes a good case for why it should be taken up--and he shows just how high the stakes are.

Throughout his narrative, Tyson mixes scientific reportage with a nicely rendered travelogue that guides readers across the island while outlining key concepts of island biogeography and conservation biology. His book is a worthy companion to David Quammen's Song of the Dodo, and valuable reading for anyone concerned with the world environment. --Gregory McNamee


From Publishers Weekly
Combining travelogue, political discourse, ethnographic analysis and ecological exploration, this unusual book surveys an unusual subject: Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island. Situated only 250 miles off the coast of Africa, Madagascar is biologically unique. Not only does it have a rich animal and plant life, it also houses a huge number of endemic species found nowhere else on earth. Impressed with "the island's singular people. The striking beauty of the landscape. And the wonder of the wildlife," TysonAonline producer of NOVA and a veteran science writerAset out, four years ago, to make sense of the island's natural history. He visited four different scientists thereAa herpetologist, a paleoecologist, an archeologist and a primatologist. In this impressive volume, he writes about what he learned on these visits, successfully conveying both the flavor of field research and the biological mysteries of the island nation. Tyson reflects on questions of science (where did all these rare species come from?) as well as on more practical matters (how can a country that's so financially poor save its rich environmental resources?). He also presents engaging historical information and offers an exuberant discussion of the Malagasy language. Because Tyson tends to focus on his personal experiences, and he emphasizes wildlife over human life, the Malagasy people themselves regrettably remain in the background. Otherwise admirable, the book suffers for this absence. Agent, Theresa Park. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Madagascar, actually the Earth's fourth-largest island, has the distinction of hosting one of the greatest collections of endemic species, that is, plants and animals that exist nowhere else. It is under extreme ecological peril owing to deforestation and population growth, and scientists and conservationists are anxious to study and preserve as much of Madagascar's unique ecology as possible before it's too late. The island also presents historical mysteries, since there are curious gaps in the archaeological record of the original settlers. To learn more about these issues, science writer Tyson tagged along on the expeditions of specialists in herpetology, paleoecology, archaeology, and primatology. He reports in great (and occasionally repetitive) detail on their research projects, adventures in the field, and scientific and historical background. He finds more questions than answers on his travels and freely admits to being baffled by Malagasy customs and way of life. This ambitious book perhaps tries to cover too much ground, but few other books available introduce readers to this fascinating, unique nation. Recommended for both academic and most public libraries.DBeth Clewis Crim, Prince William P.L., VA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Scientific American
Madagascar is the world's fourth-largest island (after Greenland, New Guinea and Borneo) and the largest oceanic one. Isolated in the Indian Ocean, 250 miles off the coast of Africa, it is of singular interest because of the many animals and plants that are found only there. Science writer Tyson went there four times between 1993 and 1997. On each trip he traveled about with a scientist--a herpetologist, a paleoecologist, an archaeologist and a primatologist. His book describes the island largely through their research. It is a technique that produces a sharp picture of an intriguing place. Tyson also presents a brief history of the island, beginning with the odd fact that the first human inhabitants apparently arrived no more than 2,000 years ago, and ponders what can be done about the ecological devastation being wrought by the impoverished population there today.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Since the age of dinosaus, Madagascar has thrived in isolation off the east coast of Africa. Hundreds of animal and plant species, most famously the lemurs, have evolved here and only here, while other creatures extinct elsewhere for tens of millions of years now vie with modern man for survival.

Inside The Eighth Continent find:A herpetologist with a pied piper call to reptiles who had discovered and collected more Malagasy species than any other biologist—and continues to discover more every year.A paleoecologist searching an enormous cavern complex for clues as to why the island's megafauna, Galapagos-sized tortoises, lemurs as big as apes, 10-foot-tall birds and pygmy hippos, among others—all died out less than two millennia ago.An archeologist trying to answer the most basic and puzzling question about the Malagasy people: where did they come from?And a primatologist who studies elusive jungle lemurs even as she strives to prevent the island's total ecological destruction.

As Tyson delves into the island's storied interior and misty past, a burning question always lies just beneath the surface: can this real-life "lost world" be saved?

About the Author:

Peter Tyson is the online producer of Nova, the PBS science series. A science writer for 17 years, he has written for the Atlantic Monthly the New York Times, and Omni, among others. He lives in Massachusetts.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal

Madagascar, actually the Earth's fourth-largest island, has the distinction of hosting one of the greatest collections of endemic species, that is, plants and animals that exist nowhere else. It is under extreme ecological peril owing to deforestation and population growth, and scientists and conservationists are anxious to study and preserve as much of Madagascar's unique ecology as possible before it's too late. The island also presents historical mysteries, since there are curious gaps in the archaeological record of the original settlers. To learn more about these issues, science writer Tyson tagged along on the expeditions of specialists in herpetology, paleoecology, archaeology, and primatology. He reports in great (and occasionally repetitive) detail on their research projects, adventures in the field, and scientific and historical background. He finds more questions than answers on his travels and freely admits to being baffled by Malagasy customs and way of life. This ambitious book perhaps tries to cover too much ground, but few other books available introduce readers to this fascinating, unique nation. Recommended for both academic and most public libraries.--Beth Clewis Crim, Prince William P.L., VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Eric F. Powell - Discover

Part field report, part travelogue, part ecological history, Tyson's book is an engrossing testament to one of the planet's most astonishing places. His tales from the field, by turns moving and hilarious, are interwoven with descriptions of the island's bizarre wildlife-from screaming geckos to upsidedown trees-and their uncertain future at the hands of the Malagasy, who are desperate for fuel wood and farmland. Read this book to get a sence of what future generations may be missing.

Kirkus Reviews

By turns thoughtful and vivacious, science writer and Nova producer Tyson draws an anecdotally rich portrait of the biological wonderland known as Madagascar. It is difficult to grasp the plant and animal wealth of the island of Madagascar. Scientists refer to such natural abundance as megadiversity, and they see its current imperiled situation as a biodiversity crisis of the first order. Tyson traveled to the island four times over the course of the last decade, each time to explore some aspect of the Malagasy bioscape. He moves in the company of fascinating, and acutely drawn, characters. He meets a herpetologist who seeks answers to the island's evolutionary bounty and its role in speciation (i.e., how one species grows out of another) and endemism (a high percentage of the living matter on Madagascar is known only there). He spends time with a paleoecologist who is trying to reconstruct ancient landscapes in order to gain insights into the extinction of the megafauna. He lives among the Malagasy in an attempt to gather some impression (which he readily admits is fleeting and less than partial) of their culture. And he witnesses the efforts of conservationists to redress the intense environmental degradation that ensues as the island's shattered economy sends residents into the countryside to cut firewood and farm the fragile earth. Tyson's science writing shines; it is a testament to his fluency that he can impart an understanding of vicariance and dispersal, and even the isostasy responsible for continental drift, without missing a beat. Or introduce a bestiary (whose names would spark memories of Dr. Seuss in most readers: tenrecs and fossa, golden-crowned sifakasandfat-ailed dwarf lemurs). One conservationist puts it bluntly: "The country will be either lost or saved during the working life of the current generation." A fine portrait of Madagascar's singular culture and biodiversity, its great beauty and dire straits.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Peter Tyson has delivered a travelogue of the first rank. It is about the true Lost World of this planet. Walk and ride with him through Madagascar, and you will be riveted on every page by a rich mix of natural and human history enlivened by personal anecdote. Madagascar matters! — (Edward O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Ants and Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge)

Madagascar always seems somehow separate-so oddly beautiful, so completely strange. But Peter Tyson, in this remarkable book, bridges that distance. He eloquently makes real and familiar both the island and the island-dwellers, and he makes us realize how much we would all lose if they were not part of our far-flung extended family. — (Deborah Blum, Pulitzer-prize winning author of The Monkey Wars and Sex on the Brain)

Whether meeting a leaf-tailed gecko eye to eye, searching for the extinct giant lemur, discussing the biogeography of animals, or describing conservation issues and local customs, Peter Tyson's narrative is a delight, the most informative, fascinating, and enjoyable book on the natural and cultural history of Madagascar I have read. — (George B. Schaller, Director for Science, Wildlife Conservation Society)