Madagascar's biota is hyperdiverse and includes exceptional levels of endemicity. We review the current state of knowledge on Madagascar's past and current terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity by compiling and presenting comprehensive data on species diversity, endemism, and rates of species description and human uses, in addition to presenting an updated and simplified map of vegetation types. We report a substantial increase of records and species new to science in recent years; however, the diversity and evolution of many groups remain practically unknown (e.g., fungi and most invertebrates). Digitization efforts are increasing the resolution of species richness patterns and we highlight the crucial role of field- and collections-based research for advancing biodiversity knowledge and identifying gaps in our understanding, particularly as species richness corresponds closely to collection effort. Phylogenetic diversity patterns mirror that of species richness and endemism in most of the analyzed groups. We highlight humid forests as centers of diversity and endemism because of their role as refugia and centers of recent and rapid radiations. However, the distinct endemism of other areas, such as the grassland-woodland mosaic of the Central Highlands and the spiny forest of the southwest, is also biologically important despite lower species richness. The documented uses of Malagasy biodiversity are manifold, with much potential for the uncovering of new useful traits for food, medicine, and climate mitigation. The data presented here showcase Madagascar as a unique "living laboratory" for our understanding of evolution and the complex interactions between people and nature. The gathering and analysis of biodiversity data must continue and accelerate if we are to fully understand and safeguard this unique subset of Earth's biodiversity.

Association Vahatra Antananarivo Madagascar

Biology Centre CAS Institute of Entomology České Budějovice Czech Republic

BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics Biodiversity and Land Planning CIBIO Campus de Vairão Vairão Portugal

Botanic Gardens Conservation International Kew Richmond Surrey UK

California Academy of Sciences San Francisco California USA

Cambridge University Herbarium Department of Plant Sciences University of Cambridge Cambridge UK

Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research Department of Genetics Evolution and Environment University College London London UK

CIBIO Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos InBIO Laboratório Associado Universidade do Porto Vairão Portugal

Cologne Zoo Cologne Germany

CR2P Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Paris France

Departamento de Biologia Faculdade de Ciências Universidade do Porto Porto Portugal

Departamento de Botânica e Zoologia Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte Natal Rio Grande do Norte Brazil

Department of Anthropology Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Washington DC USA

Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden

Department of Biology Philipps University Marburg Marburg Germany

Department of Biology University of Fribourg Fribourg Switzerland

Department of Biology University of Oxford Oxford UK

Department of Geography University of Exeter Exeter Devon UK

Department of Organismal Biology SciLifeLab Uppsala University Uppsala Sweden

Department of Plant Biology and Ecology University of Antananarivo Antananarivo Madagascar

Faculty of Natural Sciences Lúrio University Pemba Cabo Delgado Province Mozambique

Field Museum of Natural History Chicago Illinois USA

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle Jena Leipzig Leipzig Germany

Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre University of Gothenburg Gothenburg Sweden

Ileiry Geospatial Services Antananarivo Madagascar

Institut de Systématique Évolution et Biodiversité Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle Paris France

Institute of Biosciences Life Sciences Centre Vilnius University Vilnius Lithuania

Institute of Zoology University of Cologne Cologne Germany

Instituto de Biologia Universidade Estadual de Campinas Unicamp Campinas São Paulo Brazil

Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad University of La Serena La Serena Chile

Integrated Science Lab Department of Physics Umeå University Umeå Sweden

Missouri Botanical Garden Madagascar Program Antananarivo Madagascar

Missouri Botanical Garden St Louis Missouri USA

Museu Nacional Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Brazil

Natural History Museum of Denmark University of Copenhagen Copenhagen Denmark

Naturalis Biodiversity Center Darwinweg 2 2333CR Leiden the Netherlands

Plant Conservation Unit Department of Biological Sciences University of Cape Town South Africa

Programa de Doctorado en Biología y Ecología Aplicada Universidad Católica del Norte Universidad de La Serena La Serena Chile

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Edinburgh UK

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre Antananarivo Madagascar

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Richmond Surrey UK

Royal Holloway University of London Egham Surrey UK

School of Biological and Behavioural Sciences Queen Mary University of London London UK

School of Earth and Environmental Sciences Cardiff University Cardiff Wales UK

School of GeoSciences University of Edinburgh Edinburgh UK

School of Natural Sciences Bangor University Bangor Gwynedd Wales UK

Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics Fribourg Switzerland

UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology Wallingford UK

UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre Cambridge UK

WWF Antananarivo Madagascar

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