Historical State

What rainforests looked like in the past

What rainforests looks like today

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/05/100527141957.htm
http://www.tropical-rainforest-animals.com/Rain-Forest-Destruction.html

Madagascar had originally been a part of Africa, but due to the continental drift, it had separated and become its own island 165 million years ago. Most of the ancestors of animals found on this island had not evolved when Madagascar had split from Africa. They had instead drifted on floating logs or matted vegetation to get there.
http://www.geocases1.co.uk/printable/Deforestation%20of%20TRF%20a%20case%20study%20of%20Madagascar.htm

Initially, rainforests in Madagascar were much larger. It had even covered three times or more of the land. The extent of rainforests was 11.2 million hectares, but now only 2.5 to 6.9 million hectares remain. The trees and vegetation in these forests were more densely packed, green, and had more species. Today, strands of forests remain and are isolated from one another, hardly connecting in one mass. As seen in the figure on the left, a great amount of forest cover has been lost.

"Deforestation of Tropical Rainforests - A Case Study of Madagascar." Geocases1.co.uk. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://www.geocases1.co.uk/printable/Deforestation%20of%20TRF%20a%20case%20study%20of%20Madagascar.htm>