Islands present unique experiments in evolution. Life here takes on forms found nowhere else in the world. The centerpiece of this image, “hiding in plain sight,” is a Fantastic Leaftail Gecko that completely mimics a dead leaf. In silhouette are a variety of unique species including the Giraffe Weevil, the Madagascar Pitcher Plant, the Aye-aye lemur whose livelihood mimics that of a woodpecker and a Parson's Chameleon feeding on a Ghost Mantid. In the upper left, an appropriate tribute to Charles Darwin, is the moth Xanthopan morgani “praedicta,” whose presence he predicted based on the nectary of the endemic orchid Angraecum sesquipedale.
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keywords (additional): |
islands, Madagascar, geckos, beetles, Pitcher Plant, Aye-aye, chameleons, mantids, moths, orchids |
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