Mammals’ Insular Dispersal on Madagascar: Land Bridges and Rafting Theories, a Counterpoint Review
Insular faunas and fossil assemblages result from a complex interaction of geodynamical (geological, climatic, and eustatic) and biological, taphonomic, and historical processes. The debate should not be framed as a contest between biology and geodynamics but rather as an effort to reconcile the two. Geodynamic reconstructions must remain independent of biological assumptions, yet they must also be consistent with biological evidence. If faunal dispersal patterns appear to contradict existing geological models to the extent that they require improbable explanations, then the fault likely lies in the geological reconstructions, which should be revisited. We present here how recent geophysical and geological data completely reshape our view of the geodynamic evolution of the Mozambique Channel and provide geodynamic and paleo-biogeographical coherence, leading to more robust and coherent reconstructions of Earth's past.
Authors
- Maryline Moulin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1851-8727)
- Estelle Leroux (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3584-1179)
- Simon Courgeon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8771-6359)
- Marina Rabineau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8420-1587)
- Séverine Fauquette (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0516-7734)
- Bastien Linol (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4474-6480)
- Pierrick Penven (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6456-3142)
- Thierry Huck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2885-5153)
- Antoine Delaunay (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1193-6547)
- Romain Pellen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5375-9497)
- Massimiliano Delpero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5969-042X)
- Théo Le Hir
- Guillaume Baby (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4364-5648)
- Paul P. A. Mazza
- Daniel Aslanian
- Jean-Pierre Suc
- Speranta-Maria Popescu
- Yurui Zhang
- Sébastien Couette
- Eva Thicot
Institutions
- Total (France) (FR)
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Ifremer (FR)
- École Pratique des Hautes Études (FR)
- Université de Bretagne Occidentale (FR)
- Université de Bourgogne (FR)
- Xiamen University (CN)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Institut des Sciences de la Terre de Paris (FR)
- Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (FR)
- Laboratory for Ocean Physics and Satellite Remote Sensing (FR)
- Department of Public Health (US)
- Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (FR)
- Shaanxi Yulin Energy Group (CN)
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)
- University of Florence (IT)
- University of Turin (IT)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (SA)
- Nelson Mandela University (ZA)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Annual Review of Marine Science
- Published
- 2026-08-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-marine-051325-104200
- Primary Topic
- Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00