Madagascar amazing and unique.First part: Amphibians and reptiles, chameleons

Madagascar has a fascinating nature, a product of its secular isolation. It is the fourth largest island in the world, it separated from Africa along with the Hindustan peninsula one hundred and sixty-five million years ago and 88 million years ago it was completely isolated by also separating from the Indian subcontinent.
Its large surface, and the particular orography, with an accentuated relief, has turned it into a continental island that, due to its geographical position, in the southern tropical zone, and the maritime currents, generates a climatic diversity that has given rise to a great diversity of natural environments: from tropical forests to subarid areas in which a unique flora and fauna has developed in the world.
The hallmark of the flora and fauna of the Malagasy region is not necessarily its diversity, which it possesses, but its remarkable levels of endemism, which is marked not only at the species level, but also at higher taxonomic levels; the islands support eight families of plants, six families of birds, and five families of primates that live nowhere else on Earth.
Thus, of the 14,000 plant species there, 90% are endemic. This unique flora in the world occurs in all types of habitats, from humid jungles to dry thorny forest. On the other hand, the open areas, which dominate a large part of the island and which have been highly altered by human action, contain fewer endemics and more introduced species.
Most of the fauna, insects, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, is restricted to the native areas that are conserved, which unfortunately are becoming scarcer every day. Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world and with a very high level of political corruption. This means that the priority objective of a large part of the population is not the conservation of their natural wealth, but their survival, which unfortunately involves the destruction of habitats, due to the cutting of forests and the continuous burning of the land, already either for obtaining charcoal or for agricultural exploitation
For this reason, the natural uniqueness of Madagascar is seriously threatened, from the majestic baobabs, with 8 species in the world, of which 6 are native, through the exceptional lemurs, all of them only present here, to the beautiful birds, which of the 292 species present, 127 are endemic, or the great diversity of chameleons, which of 213 species in the world 75 are found only here, all of them do not have the its survival guaranteed if the destruction of natural habitats is not stopped.
I will try to show in this documentary series many of the wonderful creatures that live in Madagascar, while visiting some of the best-preserved spaces representative of the aforementioned diversity of habitats. And we will do so by focusing mainly on three very representative groups of this Malagasy uniqueness: lemurs, birds and chameleons. We will therefore dedicate individual episodes to show them in their environments, usually in a few short images, but sometimes spoiling us more thanks to the kindness of the protagonists.
We will not forget, however, to include the other living creatures that have appeared during the recording of our videos, because they are all part of this unique natural world that we should all try to preserve

Madagascar te una natura fascinant, producte del seu aïllament secular. És la quarta illa més gran del món, es va separar d’Àfrica juntament amb la península indostànica fa cent seixanta cinc milions d'anys i fa 88 milions d'anys va quedar completament isolada al separar-se també del subcontinent indi.
La seva gran superfície, i la particular orografia, amb un relleu accentuat, l'ha convertit en una illa continent que per la seva posició geogràfica, en la zona tropical austral, i els corrents marítims, genera una diversitat climàtica que ha donat lloc a una gran diversitat d'ambients naturals: des de boscos tropicals fins a zones subàrides en els quals s'ha desenvolupat una flora i una fauna úniques al món.
El segell distintiu de la flora i la fauna de la regió malgaixa no és necessàriament la seva diversitat, que la posseeix, sinó els seus notables nivells d'endemisme, que es marca no només a nivell d'espècie, sinó també a nivells taxonòmics superiors; les illes donen suport a vuit famílies de plantes, sis famílies d'ocells i cinc famílies de primats que no viuen en cap altre lloc de la Terra.
Així, de les 14000 espècies vegetals que hi ha, el 90% és endèmic. Aquesta flora única al món apareix en tot tipus d'hàbitats, des de les selves humides fins el bosc sec espinós. En canvi les zones obertes, que dominen gran part de la illa i que han estat altament alterades per l'acció humana contenen menys endemismes i més espècies introduïdes.