For those who left by accident
So many million years ago,
How many hazy weeks were spent
Captive to the current’s flow?
So many million years ago
Quiet, resting while at sea,
Captive to the current’s flow,
While drifting on a fallen tree.
Quiet, resting while at sea,
(The ceaseless blue, the starry nights)
While drifting on a fallen tree.
When they awoke—a paradise!
The ceaseless blue, the starry nights,
How many hazy weeks were spent?
When they awoke, a paradise
For those who left by accident.
ANCIENT LEMURS
Scientists believe that lemurs may have accidentally “rafted” from the east coast of Africa to the island of Madagascar forty to fifty million years ago. Storms may have washed hibernating lemurs out to sea on rafts made of dense vegetation or fallen trees. Their journey of three hundred miles probably took at least three weeks. When they arrived, they found themselves in a paradise with many natural resources and few predators.
While seventeen species of lemurs are now extinct, one hundred and eleven species and subspecies can still be found in Madagascar and some tiny neighboring islands. These lemurs differ greatly from each other in many ways, including sleep patterns. While many are nocturnal or diurnal, others, such as the cathemeral mongoose lemur, can be active during the day or night. Today, only the dwarf fat-tailed lemur still hibernates.