The Federal Research Centre for the Comprehensive Study of the Arctic in the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (FECIAR, Arkhangelsk) will collaborate with the University of Tuamasina (Republic of Madagascar) on studying the biota of water bodies for research on continental drift, climate change effects, and training in genetic research methods, Ivan Bolotov, Director of the centre, told TASS. He noted that an agreement has been signed with the university, FECIAR's first partner in Africa.

The first area of collaboration will be the study of freshwater invertebrates, primarily freshwater molluscs (naiads). This is part of FECIAR's research on modelling continental drift and understanding the impact of the separation and interaction of ancient continents on the formation of flora and fauna in different parts of the world.

Scientists from Arkhangelsk are creating a supercomputer model that will use a dating method based on the so-called molecular clock to determine when specific species diverged from their closely related groups. Studying the evolutionary biogeography of the island's freshwater molluscs will help refine the divergence timeline between Africa, Madagascar, and India, which is crucial for calibrating geological data about this event's timing.