The Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a rare lemur native to Madagascar.
This lemur is the world’s largest nocturnal primate, characterized by its slightly bizarre features, which include rodent-like incisors that grow continuously and a special middle finger that is long, slender and almost skeletal.
Aye-ayes are also known for their highly unusual feeding ritual called ‘percussive foraging’.
The lemur taps on trees to locate larvae and then gnaws a hole in the wood, using its forward-slanting incisors. Once a small hole has been gnawed in the tree, the animal inserts its long middle finger and pulls out the larvae.
Aye-ayes are found mainly in tropical forests or deciduous forests, although some have adapted to living in cultivated areas resulting from deforestation. They spend most of their lives high in the trees, near the canopy.
Younger aye-ayes are usually gray, with a stripe along the back. Their color changes as they mature and they become brown or black, with silver- and white-tipped fur and patches of fur. An adult aye-aye typically measures about 90cm in length, while its tail is thick and as long as its body.
The aye-aye’s diet suggests that it is omnivorous, as it eats much more than just larvae. It also eats fruits, seeds, nectar and fungi.
Currently, the aye-aye is classified as endangered, due to habitat loss in its forests and because locals regard them as bad omens and often kill them if they encounter them.
