Herpetofaunal assemblages on seven offshore islands of northwestern Madagascar

Herpetofaunal communities of the offshore islands of northern Madagas-car are diverse and poorly described. We present diversity, abundance and abso-lute density estimates of reptile species found across seven islands and associated mainland. Our results suggest the presence of a range of species of conservation interest including Zonosaurus tsingy Raselimanana et al. 2000 and Mantella sp. Further surveys and voucher specimens would be necessary to obtain confirma-tion. We discuss local habitat determinants of presence/absence, temporal fluc-tuations in abundance, and the role played by island size. Our results indicate