Figure 1 | By raft from Africa. On the evidence of molecular systematics, ancestors of the four endemic groups of placental mammal colonized Madagascar in single, separate events — lemurs 60–50 Myr ago, tenrecs 42–25 Myr ago, carnivorans 26–19 Myr ago and rodents 24–20 Myr ago2. Ali and Huber’s ocean-current modelling studies1 support Simpson’s hypothesis3 that they came by sea, on large rafts of vegetation. Examples of extant groups thought to have been unable to cross the Mozambique Channel in this way include elephants, zebras, antelopes and apes.