Museum presentation looks at the mysterious fosa, Madagascar’s top predator

For immediate release ‐ October 21, 2015

Contact: Jon Pishney, 919.707.8083. Images available upon request

RALEIGH — Madagascar’s top predator, the cat-like fosa, finds life in the jungle increasingly difficult due to human expansion. Find out more about this elusive animal, its role at the top of the island’s food chain and efforts to save the species, when conservation scientist and National Geographic Explorer Dr. Luke Dollar presents “Predators, People and Preservation: 20 Years of Carnivore Conservation” at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Thursday, November 5, 7 p.m. This is the second in a series of presentations held in conjunction with the Museum’s newest special exhibition, “Extreme Mammals.”

Dollar is a Professor at Pfeiffer University, Adjunct Professor at Duke University, and Program Director for National Geographic’s Big Cats Initiative. He first visited Madagascar in 1994 as an undergraduate research assistant studying lemurs with Duke University. The lemur he was assigned to follow was eaten by a fosa, an elusive predator found only on Madagascar. Dollar was instantly intrigued and upon discovering the species had never been studied, vowed to return. “Here was a mysterious predator which sat atop the food chain in the world’s top biodiversity hot spot, yet no one knew anything about it,” Dollar says. “As a keystone species, the fosa plays a crucial role in maintaining the equilibrium of Madagascar’s entire food chain.” Dollar’s fieldwork over the past 20 years has quantified the fosa’s shrinking numbers, now about 2,500, and yielded a trove of data on its biology and behavior.

“Extreme Mammals” explores the diversity, ancestry and evolution of numerous species, ranging from huge to tiny, from speedy to sloth-like. The exhibition features spectacular fossils, vivid reconstructions and life-like models — including a 15-foot-high touchable model of the extinct Indricotherium, the largest known land mammal. Dollar’s is the second in a series of scientific talks that delve into what makes a mammal extreme — the biological characteristics, behavior and ability to adapt for survival. Upcoming presentations include:

Thursday, December 3
“Eastern Coyotes: Part Wolf, Part Dog, Extremely Adaptable”
Dr. Roland Kays, Head of the Biodiversity Research Lab, NC Museum of Natural Sciences

Thursday, January 7
“Mammals in an Age of Extreme Environmental Change”
Dr. Kristofer Helgen, Head of Mammalogy, National Museum of Natural History

Thursday, February 4
“Chill Out! Hibernation as a ‘Cool’ Way to Survive the Winter”
Sheena Faherty, PhD candidate in the Department of Biology, Duke University

Thursday, March 3
“Africa’s Greatest Killer? Understanding Human-Hippopotamus Conflict”
Dr. Corinne Kendall, Assistant Curator of Conservation and Research, NC Zoo

Tickets: $10 per lecture. Add an exhibition ticket to your order and receive $5 off admission. Friends of the Museum members receive free admission to the exhibition. Tickets are available online (naturalsciences.org/extreme) or at the Museum Box Office (919.707.9950).

Back to the News