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在古生代后期至中生代中期,在南半球有一块巨大的陆地,它就是冈瓦纳大陆。这块超级大陆的中心就是如今的马达加斯加。就像冈瓦纳大陆的起源一样,在这片土地上生长着一种奇树——波巴布树。马达加斯加是非洲以东印度洋上的一颗明珠,距非洲大陆最近处仅400公里。在一般人看来,马达加斯加的生物种群应该与非洲相似。其实不然,它虽然是一个岛国,但是占世界总量四分之三的动植物都是它固有的物种。要想解开这个生物进化之谜,就必须追溯马达加斯加岛诞生的地质历史。
From the late Paleozoic to the mid-Mesozoic, there was a vast land in the southern hemisphere, which was the Gondwana. The center of this supercontinent is now Madagascar. Like the origin of the mainland of Gondwana, an odd tree, the Boba Tree, grows on this land. Madagascar is a pearl in the Indian Ocean east of Africa, just 400 kilometers from the nearest continent. To the general public, Madagascar’s biological stock should be similar to that of Africa. In actual fact, though it is an island nation, flora and fauna, which constitute three quarters of the world total, are its inherent species. To unlock the mystery of biological evolution, one must trace the geological history of the island of Madagascar.