Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major's expedition to Madagascar, 1894 to 1896: beginnings of modern systematic study of the island's mammalian fauna

Abstract

Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major (1843–1923) made the first synoptic systematic collection of
\nmammals from Madagascar in the last decade of the 19th century. To reconstruct Major’s obscurely
\nknown itinerary, we located 994 specimens that originated from his 1894–1896 expedition and
\ndetermined their identification, dates and locality of collection, and current institutional repository.
\nFifty species were recovered from 26 localities centred in the Central Highlands and Eastern Humid
\nForest of east-central Madagascar. The geographic position of several type localities is refined and
\ntheir coordinates estimated, and the type locality of one taxon (Microgale pusilla Major, 1896) is
\naccordingly amended. Biographical details of the man, the biodiversity significance of his collections
\nand the historical context of his discoveries are discussed.