The Lemurs of Madagascar: Determining Eocene Ocean Connectivity between Southeast Africa and Madagascar by using Dynamic Network Theory

Abstract

Madagascar is an island in the Indian Ocean that hosts one of the most unusual, endemic and diverse concentrations of fauna around the world. However, the fauna found on Madagascar is very unbalanced. This pattern of imbalance, endemism and diversity begs an obvious question: what forces have created the pattern? In this thesis, we will investigate the Sweepstakes hypothesis first proposed by Simpson in 1940 by using model simulations under Eocene conditions and applying Lagrangian particle trac