The Natural History of Madagascar

S. M. Goodman, J. P. Benstead (eds.). 2003. The Natural History of Madagascar. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London, 1709 pp. ISBN 0-226-30306-3, price (hardbound), $85.00. The mini-continent of Madagascar has been renowned as a naturalist's paradise ever since Joseph-Philibert Commerson described it as such back in 1771. Yet, at least until this volume thudded on to my desk, I would have said that in comparison with the breadth and depth of the biological riches it offers, our knowledge of its natural history still remains curiously sketchy. With The Natural History of Madagascar in front of one, however, it is possible to appreciate just how much we have learned in recent years about the island's…