| 2005 | 2010 | 2011 | 2014 |
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Launching the 2010 expedition, travelling from Antananarivo to Mahajanga via RN2; most of Madagascar's central plateau is completely deforested and covered by exotic grasses and erosion gullies. |
| First we prospected at Ampazony, the site that produced the new seacow species Eotheroides lambondrano in 2003. |  |
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 Dan Branch sorting fossils; a massive plate of beans and rice. |
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After work at Ampazony we crossed the Betsiboka river on the "Bac Baobab" ferry. |
| Team members relaxing on the ferry: Tsiory Andrianavalona, Niaina Ramihangihajason, Dan Branch, Lydia Raharivony, and University of Antananarivo Professor and collaborator Rachel Razafimbelo. |  |
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After landing at Katsepy, on the west side of the Betsiboka, we drove west for a full day and arrived at Soalala, a small regional town. These fishing boats at Soalala are hand-made outriggers used for ocean fishing and transport. |
| Our second prospection site was Amparafaka, near Soalala, where we found these tall cliffs composed of Pliocene sandstones and Miocene limestones. |  |
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Our third site was Cap Tanjona, a Miocene limestone massif, which projected from the coast into the Mozambique channel. |
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View from the top of Cap Tanjona, covered by grasslands and "Satrana" fan palms, and some flowering Pachypodium (left). |
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Our fourth site: Nosy Mahakamby, a windswept island in the Mozambique channel. |
| Mahakamby at low tide. |  |
 Above: navigating the island was challenging at high tide; Right: Jean-Luc Raharison and Karen Samonds searching for fossils. |
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Plaster jacketing for removal of fragile fossils. |
| University of Antananarivo student Tsiory Andrianavalona with a fossil find. |  |
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A prospection team taking a break near the shore. |
| A natural arch formed by seawater erosion, shown here at low tide. |  |
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Cuphus, an invertebrate macrofossil. |
| Sunset at Mahakamby camp. |  |
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Malagasy fast food at Namakia market. |
| Our final fieldwork in 2010 was prospection in the Antsirabe region of the central high plateau. This is a typical "Imerina" high plateau landscape with terraced rice fields, grasslands and exotic pine trees grown for timber. |  |
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Searching for fossils in lacustrine sediments. |
| Typical village in the Sambaina region, showing two-story houses made from locally-sourced bricks. |  |
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This region has vast expanses of flat land under cultivation (mainly for carrots and cabbage); this was once the northern part of a vast inland lake. |
 An active mineral spring found within the carrot fields |
 Many people are surprised to learn that the ground floor is often reserved for livestock. |
| Our very final day of prospection - we had the good fortune to stumble across a local store selling homemade yogurt. |  |