Aye-aye

Photo by Tom Junek.

The Aye-aye is the sole living member of the family Daubentoniidae. Aye-ayes are a type of lemur. They are found only in Madagascar and are the largest nocturnal primate. Like many primates today, their survival is threatened by loss of habitat and human predation.

Physical Characteristics

The physical appearance of Aye-ayes is extremely unique. They are about the size of a cat and have large ears, grey-black fur, and long, bushy tails. Their digits are also elongated, especially the middle fingers. Aye-ayes have a reflective tapetum that helps them detect light at night and makes their eyes shine like a cat's do when you shine a flashlight at them.

The teeth of Aye-ayes grow continuously like a rodents -- a unique trait among primates. Their large, powerful incisors help them tear through wood to get to the grubs they like to eat so much.

Their appearance is so strange that the people of Madagascar are afraid of them and consider them to be a bad omen.

Habitat

Aye-ayes live in forests in Madagascar. They spend most of their time in trees, and build nests to sleep in during the day.

Diet

Aye-ayes use their especially long middle fingers to forage for food. They will use their elongated finger to tap on things like wood and then use their large ears to listen to the sound the wood makes in order to find hollow spots where larvae live. They will then use their long incisors to tear a hole in the wood and fish out the larvae with their middle finger. Aye-ayes eat mainly larvae, nuts, and fiberous fruits such as coconuts and mangoes.

Behavior

Aye-ayes become sexally reproductive around 2-3 years old. While hunting during the night, female Aye-ayes leave their infants in the nest.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Primates

Suborder: Prosimii

Family: Daubentoniidae

Genus: Daubentonia

Species: madagascariensis

References

Corliss Pearl, Mary. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Wildlife. "Prosimians: Lemurs, Bush Babies, Tarsiers, etc." Grey Castle Press (c) 1991.

Kite, Lorien. Nature's Children: Lemurs. Grolier Educational (c) 1999.