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

Posted on 02 January 2017 by Peter Tyson

Since the age of dinosaurs, Madagascar has thrived in isolation off the east coast of Africa In this real life lost world, 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 It s a land of striking geography, from soaring mountains to vast canyon lands, from tropical rain forests to spiny desert And its people are a conundrum unto themselves, their origins obscure, their language complex and distinct, and their beliefs fascinating In The Eighth Continent, Peter Tyson will guide you into this, the planet s most exotic frontier, so you can see for yourself why it s been called the naturalist s promised land Part scientific exploration, part adventure saga, part cultural and historical narrative, The Eighth Continent follows Tyson s journeys with four scientific experts as they explore the fourth largest island in the world A herpetologist with a pied piper call to reptiles who has discovered and collected Malagasy species than any other biologist and continues to discover every yearA paleoecologist searching an enormous cavern complex for clues as to why the island s megafauna Galipagos sized tortoises, lemurs as big as apes, ten foot tall birds, and pygmy hippos, among others all died out less than two millennia agoAn archeologist trying to answer the most basic and puzzling question about the Malagasy people Where did they come from A primatologist who studies elusive jungle lemurs even as she strives to prevent the island s total ecological destructionFor if Madagascar is one of the most fascinating environments on the planet, it is also one of the most endangered As the Malagasy hack a subsistence from the island s dwindling forests, they also threaten its diverse habitats and its rich biological diversity It is not an easy situation to resolve, nor is it easy to answer the burning question at its heart Can Madagascar be saved In The Eighth Continent, Peter Tyson navigates this tortuous path as he delves into the island s storied interior as well as its misty past. Best Read The Eighth Continent: Life, Death and Discovery in the Lost World of Madagascar [ author ] Peter Tyson [ Kindle ePUB or eBook ] – kino-fada.fr This was a 3 read for me.This was a delightful narrative non fiction read I knew very little about Madagascar until I read this book It is part armchair travelogue, part scientific narrative on the past and ongoing explorations, part historical and culture representation For me personally, I enjoyed the discussions on the origin of the Malagasy people and learning about the different groups of people, their customs a...This book took me a long time to read, and to be honest I m not sure why I picked it up in the first place I think I saw it reviewed somewhere and thought, Ooooooo, I don t know anything about Madagascar, and I like lemurs I want to read that It took me a long time because there s a lot of science in this book I prefer my science to be of the pop variety, and this was a littlein depth than that, but that is in no way a criticism of the book itself, which I think is very well writte This book took me a long time to read, and to be honest I m not sure why I picked it up in the first place I think I saw it reviewed somewhere and thought, Ooooooo, I don t know anything about Madagascar, and I like lemurs I want to read that It took me a long time because there s a lot of science in this book I prefer my science to be of the pop variety, and this was a littlein depth than that, but that is in no way a criticism of the book itself, which I think is very well written.Madagascar is a pretty amazing place No one actually knows where the first humans on Madagascar came from Indonesia Africa Arabia all three are represented there now Madagascar is home to an amazing range of biodiversity for an island of its relatively small size, but ...The main problem is it s gotta be super outdated by now, which means I m wildly curious what Madagascar is like now and how all these issues have resolved, stagnated, worsened, whatever Fascinating but exasperating.Also weird my old provost shows up in it.Highly recommended for anyone who is planning to visit Madagascar, or anyone who wants to learn about the biogeography of this amazing island.If you are looking for a book that will almost literally take you to Madagascar, this is the one you need to pick up From the very first page I found myself wanting to learnI took in each page as if I were standing on the beach somewhere, soaking everything up with my eyes There were many times when I found myself fascinated by something described, not only because it was new and different, but because the writing was so good that even the simplest of things felt new and amazing Often If you are looking for a book that will almost literally take you to Madagascar, this is the one you need to pick up From the very first page I found myself wanting to learnI took in each page as if I were standing on the beach somewhere, soaking everything up with my eyes There were many times when I found myself fascinated by something described, not only because it was new and different, but because the writing was so good that even the simplest of things felt new and amazing Often I discovered I was brought so deeply into the story that I had to go and relive it for myself and searched the internet for images, video or information on a certain topic.This is exactly what a non fiction book encouraging conservation should...Sjaldan hefur jafn miki veri skrifa me jafn litlum rangri Eftir lestur b karinnar hef g g ta inns n inn l f og st rf nokkurra s rfr inga fr vesturl ndum, en litla inns n inn l f, st rf, s gu og menningu eyjarinnar H fundur gerir s r ekki miki far um a kynnast l fi og st rfum innf ddra en r ir l ngu m li um r ranns knir a allega d ral fi sem hann hefur teki tt gegnum t ina etta er mik...I picked this book up because it is about Madagascar and I am fascinated with Madagascar I have so many orchids that grow only there I would love to travel there see the wild, the bizarre and the orchids This book isn t about orchids at all, but is instead part travelogue part funny stories about time spent identifying, searching for and documenting various species of reptiles and amphibians But the stories of the place, the Malagasy people and just the wonders that are Madagascar w I picked this book up because it is about Madagascar and I am fascinated with Madagascar I have so man...This was a fascinating and informative books to read ahead of and it turns out, during my trip to Madagascar It provided a lot of historical and scientific background information which provided fantastic context to the trip And while it is certainly written in an enjoyable, storytelling method, sometimes the subject matter wasn t quite compelling enough to me to really keep at reading this In fact I didn t actually finish the book until my plane ride LEAVING the country Even so, I really This was a fascinating and informative books to read ahead of and it turns out, during my trip to Madagascar It provided a lot of historical and scientific background information which provided fantastic context to the trip And while it is certainly written in an enjoyable, storytelling method, sometimes the subject matter wasn t quite c...For anyone interested in Madagascar this book is amazing It is funny, well written, and full of interesting facts Interesting, that is to an ecologist, biologist, or naturalist, or anyone who has been to Madagascar I m not sure anyone el...This wasn t really what I was looking for I wanted to learn about Madagascar, but this is really a story about the people who are researching trying to preserve Madagascar Nevertheless, this was good.

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

English
02 January 2017

Peter Tyson