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"Madagascar Colonization History."
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Regeneration through empire : French pronatalists and colonial settlement in the Third Republic
\"Following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71, French patriots feared that their country was in danger of becoming a second-rate power in Europe. Decreasing birth rates had largely slowed French population growth, and the country's population was not keeping pace with that of its European neighbors. To regain its standing in the European world, France set its sights on building a vast colonial empire while simultaneously developing a policy of pronatalism to reverse these demographic trends. Though representing distinct political movements, colonial supporters and pronatalist organizations were born of the same crisis and reflected similar anxieties concerning France's trajectory and position in the world. Regeneration through Empire explores the intersection between colonial lobbyists and pronatalists in France's Third Republic. Margaret Cook Andersen argues that as the pronatalist movement became more organized at the end of the nineteenth century, pronatalists increasingly understood their demographic crisis in terms that transcended the boundaries of the metropole and began to position the French empire, specifically its colonial holdings in North Africa and Madagascar, as a key component in the nation's regeneration. Drawing on an array of primary sources from French archives, Regeneration through Empire is the first book to analyze the relationship between depopulation and imperialism\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Regeneration through Empire
Following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870-71, French patriots feared that their country was in danger of becoming a second-rate power in Europe. Decreasing birth rates had largely slowed French population growth, and the country's population was not keeping pace with that of its European neighbors. To regain its standing in the European world, France set its sights on building a vast colonial empire while simultaneously developing a policy of pronatalism to reverse these demographic trends. Though representing distinct political movements, colonial supporters and pronatalist organizations were born of the same crisis and reflected similar anxieties concerning France's trajectory and position in the world.
Regeneration through Empireexplores the intersection between colonial lobbyists and pronatalists in France's Third Republic. Margaret Cook Andersen argues that as the pronatalist movement became more organized at the end of the nineteenth century, pronatalists increasingly understood their demographic crisis in terms that transcended the boundaries of the metropole and began to position the French empire, specifically its colonial holdings in North Africa and Madagascar, as a key component in the nation's regeneration. Drawing on an array of primary sources from French archives,Regeneration through Empireis the first book to analyze the relationship between depopulation and imperialism.
eBook
New evidence of megafaunal bone damage indicates late colonization of Madagascar
The estimated period in which human colonization of Madagascar began has expanded recently to 5000-1000 y B.P., six times its range in 1990, prompting revised thinking about early migration sources, routes, maritime capability and environmental changes. Cited evidence of colonization age includes anthropogenic palaeoecological data 2500-2000 y B.P., megafaunal butchery marks 4200-1900 y B.P. and OSL dating to 4400 y B.P. of the Lakaton'i Anja occupation site. Using large samples of newly-excavated bone from sites in which megafaunal butchery was earlier dated >2000 y B.P. we find no butchery marks until ~1200 y B.P., with associated sedimentary and palynological data of initial human impact about the same time. Close analysis of the Lakaton'i Anja chronology suggests the site dates <1500 y B.P. Diverse evidence from bone damage, palaeoecology, genomic and linguistic history, archaeology, introduced biota and seafaring capability indicate initial human colonization of Madagascar 1350-1100 y B.P.
Journal Article
In or Out-of-Madagascar?—Colonization Patterns for Large-Bodied Diving Beetles (Coleoptera: Dytiscidae)
High species diversity and endemism within Madagascar is mainly the result of species radiations following colonization from nearby continents or islands. Most of the endemic taxa are thought to be descendants of a single or small number of colonizers that arrived from Africa sometime during the Cenozoic and gave rise to highly diverse groups. This pattern is largely based on vertebrates and a small number of invertebrate groups. Knowledge of the evolutionary history of aquatic beetles on Madagascar is lacking, even though this species-rich group is often a dominant part of invertebrate freshwater communities in both standing and running water. Here we focus on large bodied diving beetles of the tribes Hydaticini and Cybistrini. Our aims with this study were to answer the following questions 1) How many colonization events does the present Malagasy fauna originate from? 2) Did any colonization event lead to a species radiation? 3) Where did the colonizers come from--Africa or Asia--and has there been any out-of-Madagascar event? 4) When did these events occur and were they concentrated to any particular time interval? Our results suggest that neither in Hydaticini nor in Cybistrini was there a single case of two or more endemic species forming a monophyletic group. The biogeographical analysis indicated different colonization histories for the two tribes. Cybistrini required at least eight separate colonization events, including the non-endemic species, all comparatively recent except the only lotic (running water) living Cybister operosus with an inferred colonization at 29 Ma. In Hydaticini the Madagascan endemics were spread out across the tree, often occupying basal positions in different species groups. The biogeographical analyses therefore postulated the very bold hypothesis of a Madagascan origin at a very deep basal node within Hydaticus and multiple out-of-Madagascar dispersal events. This hypothesis needs to be tested with equally intense taxon sampling of mainland Africa as for Madagascar.
Journal Article
Human translocation as an alternative hypothesis to explain the presence of giant tortoises on remote islands in the south-western Indian Ocean
Giant tortoises are known from several remote islands in the Indian Ocean (IO). Our present understanding of ocean circulation patterns, the age of the islands, and the life history traits of giant tortoises makes it difficult to comprehend how these animals arrived on such small, remote and geologically young (8-1.5 Ma) landmasses. For colonization to have occurred by dispersal, giant tortoises must either have originated in Madagascar or Africa and swum for hundreds of km against the ocean currents, or have launched themselves from the eastern IO margin and drifted with the currents over several thousands of km of open ocean. After these navigational feats, the tortoises would have needed to found new, viable populations on potentially inhospitable volcanic or coral outcrops. Geologically recent sea level changes are likely to have eliminated terrestrial life from islands like Aldabra, complicating the scenario. We reviewed information relating to IO geology, the evolution and ecology of giant tortoises, and the spread of humans within the region, and propose an alternative explanation: we posit that giant tortoises were introduced to the IO islands by early Austronesian sailors, possibly to establish provisioning stations for their journeys, just as European sailors did in more recent historical times.
Journal Article
Insights into the Evolution of a Cryptic Radiation of Bats: Dispersal and Ecological Radiation of Malagasy Miniopterus (Chiroptera: Miniopteridae)
The past decade has seen a proliferation of new species of Miniopterus bats (family Miniopteridae) recognized from Madagascar and the neighboring Comoros archipelago. The interspecific relationships of these taxa, their colonization history, and the evolution of this presumed adaptive radiation have not been sufficiently explored. Using the mitochondrial cytochrome-b gene, we present a phylogeny of the Malagasy members of this widespread Old World genus, based on 218 sequences, of which 82 are new and 136 derived from previous studies. Phylogenetic analyses recovered 18 clades, which divide into five primary lineages: (1) M. griveaudi; (2) M. mahafaliensis, M. sororculus and X3; (3) M. majori, M. gleni and M. griffithsi; (4) M. brachytragos; M. aelleniA, and M. aelleniB; and (5) M. manavi and M. petersoni recovered as sister species, which were in turn linked to a group comprising M. egeri and five genetically distinct populations referred to herein as P3, P4, P5, P6 and P7. Beast analysis indicated that the initial divergence within the Malagasy Miniopterus radiation took place 4.5 Myr; most species diverged between 4 and 2.5 Myr, and a secondary period was between 1.25 and 1 Myr. DNA K2P-distances between recognized taxa ranged from 12.9% to 2.5% and intraspecific variation was less than 1.8%. Of the 18 identified clades, Latin binomials are only associated with 11, which indicates much greater differentiation than currently recognized for Malagasy Miniopterus. These data are placed in a context of the dispersal history of this genus on the island and patterns of ecological diversity.
Journal Article
Systematics of the Madagascar Anelosimus spiders: remarkable local richness and endemism, and dual colonization from the Americas
Despite the alarming rates of deforestation and forest fragmentation, Madagascar still harbors extraordinary biodiversity. However, in many arthropod groups, such as spiders, this biodiversity remains mostly unexplored and undescribed. The first subsocial Madagascan species of the theridiid spider genus Anelosimus were described in 2005 when six new species were found to coexist in the Périnet forest fragment within Andasibe-Mantadia NP. However, this discovery was based only on a few specimens and the extent of this Madagascan radiation has remained unknown. We here report on a thorough survey of >350 colonies from Périnet, and three pilot surveys into additional Madagascar forests (Ambohitantely, Ranamofana, and Montagne d'Ambre). The morphological, molecular and natural history data from these surveys facilitated a revised taxonomy and phylogenetic hypothesis of Madagascan Anelosimus. This subsocial clade currently comprises six previously known (Anelosimusandasibe Agnarsson & Kuntner, 2005, Anelosimusmay Agnarsson, 2005, Anelosimusnazariani Agnarsson & Kuntner, 2005, Anelosimussallee Agnarsson & Kuntner, 2005, Anelosimussalut Agnarsson & Kuntner, 2005, Anelosimusvondrona Agnarsson & Kuntner, 2005) and 10 new species: Anelosimusata sp. n., Anelosimusbuffoni sp. n., Anelosimusdarwini sp. n., Anelosimushookeri sp. n., Anelosimushuxleyi sp. n., Anelosimuslamarcki sp. n., Anelosimusmoramora sp. n., Anelosimustita sp. n., Anelosimustorfi sp. n., Anelosimuswallacei sp. n.. With the exception of Anelosimusmay and Anelosimusvondrona, all other species appear to be single forest endemics. While additional sampling is necessary, these data imply a much higher local richness and endemism in Madagascan forests than in any other comparable area globally. The phylogenetic results establish a sister clade relationship between the subsocial Anelosimus in Madagascar and the American 'eximius group', and between the solitary Anelosimusdecaryi on Madagascar and a solitary American clade. These findings imply duplicate colonizations from America, an otherwise rare biogeographical pattern, calling for more detailed investigation of Anelosimus biogeography.
Journal Article
The Work of Memory in Madagascar
This article examines the practices through which the Betsimisaraka of Madagascar attempt to recode, assimilate, and contain the influences of the outside world. The Betsimisaraka endured colonization by the Merina and the French for 130 years. They rarely refer to this colonial past except on certain occasions when it is powerfully evoked. They prefer instead to commemorate ancestors. A processual view of remembering and forgetting productively complicates anthropological understandings of the colonization of consciousness and the consciousness of colonization, revealing how local cultural autonomy can be partially maintained through the work of memory. [Madagascar, memory, forgetting, colonization, Bartlett]
Journal Article
Who Killed 'Malagasy Cactus'? Science, Environment and Colonialism in Southern Madagascar (1924-1930)
The eradication of 'Malagasy cactus' (a prickly pear Opuntia) by a cochineal insect during the late 1920s had a profound impact on the political economies of southern Madagascar, causing extensive hardship to local peoples and their cattle and changing irrevocably the relationship between this arid region and the colonial state. Yet the circumstances surrounding this event have never been explored in any depth. This paper initiates its study by examining the evidence for the allegations that have been made of complicity on the part of the French colonial regime. It explores the conflicting discourses on 'Malagasy cactus' that divided the colonial administration, demonstrating close links between the campaign to eradicate the plant and the 'social policy' (politique sociale) that became dominant under Governor General Marcel Olivier (1924-1930). It reconstructs the history of the introduction and propagation of the insect, highlighting the role of ideologically-motivated scientific advisors, committed to the 'development' (la mise en valeur) of the colony and familiar with the biological campaigns against prickly pear in Australia and South Africa. Proving difficult to categorise in terms of models of colonial power and imperial science, above all this case study underscores the factor of chance that exists in colonial projects alongside the Orwellian logic. For if, on the one hand, the demise of 'Malagasy cactus' appears highly motivated when viewed against policies that sought to exploit the human and natural resources of Madagascar on an unprecedented scale, on the other hand, a review of the scientific literature on the control of Opuntiae by insects suggests a strong element of contingency in the affair.
Journal Article
Rethinking resistance : revolt and violence in African history
Rethinking Resistance analyzes revolts from the nineteenth century and early colonial Africa, post-colonial rebellions and recent conflicts in African history by reinterpreting resistance studies in the light of current scholarly thought and linking them to new conceptual perspectives on the changing nature of violence.
eBook