''Lemurophoenix halleuxii'' is a species of

palm tree The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially c ...

, the only species in the genus ''Lemurophoenix''. It is found only in

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. It is threatened by habitat loss and overcollection. There are perhaps 300 mature individuals remaining in the wild.

Range and habitat

''Lemurophoenix halleuxii'' is endemic to the

Antongil Bay ''Helodranon' Antongila'' (Bay of Antongila), more commonly called Antongil Bay in English, is the largest bay in Madagascar. This bay is on the island's east coast, toward the northern end of the eastern coastline of the island. It is within A ...

area northeastern Madagascar, including the

Masoala Peninsula Masoala National Park, in northeast Madagascar, is the largest of the island's protected areas. Most of the park is situated in Sava Region and a part in Analanjirofo. Created in 1997, the park protects 2,300 square kilometres of rainforest and ...

and

Mananara Avaratra Mananara Nord or Mananara Avaratra is a municipality in Madagascar. It belongs to the Districts of Madagascar, district of Mananara Nord District, Mananara Nord, which is a part of Analanjirofo, Analanjirofo Region. The population of the commune w ...

. There are three known subpopulations. The largest is in the Ratanabe area, and there is another in

Masoala National Park Masoala National Park, in northeast Madagascar, is the largest of the island's protected areas. Most of the park is situated in Sava Region and a part in Analanjirofo. Created in 1997, the park protects 2,300 square kilometres of rainforest and ...

on the Masoala Peninsula. The species' estimated

extent of occurrence Extent may refer to: Computing * Extent (file systems), a contiguous region of computer storage medium reserved for a file * Extent File System, a discontinued file system implementation named after the contiguous region * Extent, a chunk of st ...

is 1,729 km² and its estimated

area of occupancy Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while ''surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-dimen ...

is 31 km². It grows in primary humid evergreen lowland forest on steep slopes and in deep narrow valleys, generally between 200 and 450 meters elevation, and occasionally as high as 700 meters.

Conservation and threats

The species is threatened with

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

outside of designated protected areas. The species' conservation status is assessed as

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

, given its restricted range, its small population size, loss of habitat, and declining population size.

References

Dypsidinae Endemic flora of Madagascar Flora of the Madagascar lowland forests Endangered plants Monotypic Arecaceae genera Taxonomy articles created by Polbot {{Arecaceae-stub