Baobab trees. There are 8 species of Baobab trees in the world and 7 of them are found on Madagascar.

There may be a greater number of species in mainland Africa than on Madagascar, but the island holds more endemic species and taxa than the mainland.

This is thanks to Madagascar's isolation in the Indian Ocean ever since it broke free of Africa 150-165 million years ago. Madagascar is considered one of the biggest biodiversity "hotspots", and among the top five to six of the worlds 18 mega-diversity countries.

There are 12,000 plant and 160 mammal species on the island, and 90% of each group are endemic.