Table 1.
Holocene terrestrial vertebrate taxa of Madagascar that were present on continental Africa in the Paleocene or Eocene and that likely colonized (or whose close relatives may have colonized) Madagascar prior to the Oligocene, arriving either via vicariance or via transoceanic dispersal from continental Africa
| African Taxon (Paleocene or Eocene) |
Malagasy Taxon (Holocene) |
Class, Order | Disp. adv.? | Fossils found where? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Podocnemididae | Podocnemididae | Sauropsida, Testudines | yes | Cretaceous of Madagascar, Eocene of Algeria and Egypt |
| Boidae | Boidae | Sauropsida, Squamata | no | Eocene of Egypt and Paleocene of Morocco |
| Colubridae | Lamprophiidae | Sauropsida, Squamata | no | Eocene of Egypt |
| Gekkonidae | Gekkonidae | Sauropsida, Squamata | no | Paleocene of Morocco |
| Scincomorpha | Scincomorpha | Sauropsida, Squamata | no | Paleocene of Morocco |
| Ranoideaa | Ranidae | Amphibia, Anura | no | Eocene of Namibia |
| Phaethontidae | Phaethontidae | Aves, Phaethontiformes | yes | Eocene of Morocco |
| Lorisoidea | Lemuroidea | Mammalia, Primates | no | Eocene of Egypt and Tunisia |
| Afrosoricida | Plesiorycteropodidae | Mammalia, Afrosoricida | no | Eocene of Egypt |
| Myzopodidae | Myzopodidae | Mammalia, Chiroptera | yes | Eocene of Egypt |
| Nycteridae | Nycteridae | Mammalia, Chiroptera | yes | Eocene of Tunisia |
aRanoidea, previously a superfamily, is now considered a major clade of Neobatrachian amphibians