For Immediate Release Contact: Greg Borzo (312) 665-7100 (For Media Use Only) gborzo@fieldmuseum.org Madagascar is the size of California and Oregon, combined, making it the world’s fourth largest island. It is especially interesting, scientifically, because some 80% of its plants and animals are not found anywhere else in the world. This is the result of Madagascar’s isolation from other landmasses for the past 88 million years. Due to its unique history, the island offers a treasure trove of information about evolution, biodiversity and biogeography. Accordingly, Field Museum researchers have been actively studying the fossil record and modern animal life in Madagascar. Collaborating closely with the Université d’Antananarivo, Flynn has led five fossil-collecting expeditions there since 1996, and Goodman has lived there for the past 12 years, conducting extensive biological inventories and publishing widely. His definitive 1,500-page book, The Natural History of Madagascar, co-edited with Jonathan Benstead, will be published later the year by the University of Chicago Press. Much of the DNA analysis for this study was done at The Field Museum’s Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution, a world-class lab dedicated to genetic analysis, and understanding and preserving the world’s biodiversity. The lab provides researchers with state-of-the-art equipment in molecular biology, enabling them to pursue genetic studies of evolutionary diversity throughout the tree of life. The study was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation and conducted with colleagues from Yale University, Northwestern University, and the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris). WWF (Antananarivo, Madagascar) and the Université d’Antananarivo provided essential assistance and support. “This study is extremely important for understanding the biogeographic history of Madagascar and the evolution of Carnivora,” Goodman says. “It also will inform conservation decisions and could be used to help preserve what’s left of Madagascar’s precious biodiversity.” Falanouc The falanouc (Eupleres goudotii), one of Madagascar's most enigmatic carnivorans, is a descendent of animals that dispersed from Africa to the island 24 million to 18 million years ago. This nocturnal, solitary animal lives in lowland forests, specializes in eating earthworms and other invertebrate prey, and is endangered.