The giant Furcifer oustaleti was sighted several times during the expedition
The conspicious Phelsuma klemmeri
The next morning everyone was anxious to explore the area by daylight and the blue sky looked very promising. At breakfast, crackers with honey, the survey areas were determined and the planning for the next few days was set out. The first micro-habitat to research was a huge bamboo patch within the pristine forest. It was medium sized bamboo, about 5 cm (2") thick and 6-7 meters high, that grew tightly together. The dead bamboo poles lay crisscrossed, intertwined like a giant game of Mikado. The first reptile to be sighted was again the Uroplates henkeli, sleeping on a green bamboo. The reptile was easily spotted as its brown camouflage colours and pattern contrasted with the leafy green bamboo. Around the same time the first rainforest species of day gecko was found, a Phelsuma seippi that also seemed to prefer the medium sized bamboo. A heavy rain shower made an early end to this interesting survey.
Some of the team members at the second campsite in the primary rainforest
The afternoon showers created the perfect conditions to spot amphibians at night. On that specific night, the humidity rose around a 100% and throughout the forest a chorus of hundreds of frogs created a very pleasant atmosphere. We heard many more frogs than we actually saw. No wonder when you know that many of these frogs belong to the world's smallest species and live in between the leaf litter on the forest floor.
We were very lucky to spot the tiny Stumpffia pygmaea (1 cm or 1/2"), Madagascar's smallest frog. Also various tree frogs like Boophis tephraeomystax and Mantidactylus sp. were recorded for the first time in this part of Madagascar.
The sun was already present when the team opened their tents the next morning. After freshening up in the mountain stream, the team headed again for the bamboo patch that was partly surveyed the day before. Upon arriving at the site, one of the team members noticed a leech stuck to his foot. This parasite was probably waiting for a victim in the mountain stream where we had bathed earlier. The leech was removed with a hot knife, and the team could start the survey. Emmanuel, the Exo Terra manager and team leader, spotted a very small green gecko, but before we could take a closer look the animal vanished in the tiny leaves of the bamboo. An extended search for the animal or similar ones was unsuccessful but everyone was determined to find one of these tiny green geckos. It certainly looked like an undiscovered species. During the search however, the most conspicuous of all day geckos was found, Phelsuma klemmeri. This was certainly the first observation of this species in its natural habitat since it was first discovered in 1991. Seeing these metallic blue geckos with their yellow heads was very exciting for all the team members and was one of the highlights of the expedition. Other members of the gecko family found on this day were the giant day gecko, Phelsuma madagascariensis grandis and Phelsuma laticauda laticauda. Unfortunately the little green gecko that we first observed was never found again.
