Observations on Behavior and Ecology of Phaner furcifer

Abstract

Phaner furcifer is found throughout the west of Madagascar, to the north of the Onilahy and Fiherenana rivers. In the east of the island, however, we have located it only in the region of Hiaraka in the Masoala peninsula. In the north, we have recorded its presence at an altitude of over 1000 m, near the forest station of Roussettes in the Montagne d’Ambre. The animals from the north and east are rather larger than those found in the west and should probably be regarded as constituting a distinct subspecies. The climatic and environmental ranges encompassed by the various populations of P. furcifer are thus so great that it is difficult to understand why the species is not found in areas such as Ankarafantsika in the western forest region, or why, in the east, its distribution extends no further south than Cape Masoala. On the other hand, its absence from the south of the island is presumably related to the great aridity of that region.