[Taxacom] Two great 2013 papers on Madagascar's fauna

[Ken Kinman]

Dear All,                                                    I was delighted to find another paper published in 2013 which pretty much sums up my own views on the biota of Madagascar.  It even discusses the profound effect that the K-T extinction had on shaping what is found there today (as opposed to its Mesozoic fauna).  I love this paper, and it is open access.  What more could one ask for?  Nevertheless, I'm afraid that John can be counted on to rain on their parade.  Here's a weblink:   
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0062086                                                                                                                            And in another 2013 paper, it has been shown that the so-called "Malagasy aardvark" is actually related to the tenrecs.  I had expressed my hope (in a 2002 posting on the dinosaur mailing list) that molecular sequence data could be extracted to solve this mystery (and it came from collagen).  Anyway, this problematic fossil has found a home in Order Afrosoricida, so assigning it to the monotypic Order Bibymalagasia is no longer necessary (nor informative).    Here's a weblink to that paper:    http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/87681498/molecular-phylogeny-plesiorycteropus-reassigns-extinct-mammalian-order-bibymalagasia    
                              ----------------------------Ken Kinman                                  
P.S.  Are there other recent papers on Madagascar's fauna that I have failed to discover?  I really need to find time to catch up on the recent literature on a lot of other taxa as well.              
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