Lemur Origins: Rafting by Groups of Hibernators?

Abstract

When and how non-human primates first arrived on Madagascar remains one of the most enigmatic questions in primate evolution [1-3]. Madagascar broke away from the African mainland and India long before the estimated origin of the first primates [4-7]. Because African and Asian lorises are the closest living relatives of Malagasy primates, however, some of their common ancestors must have migrated to distant islands or continents. Recent phylogenetic analyses strongly indicate an African origin for lemurs and lorises, thereby supporting a primate colonisation of Madagascar from Africa [8], but proposed mechanisms for this transoceanic colonisation have been highly controversial. Here I cite evidence from several recent studies that suggest a likely mechanism for a successful colonisation across the formidable water barrier of the Mozambique Channel.