Card #028 · Mammals
Aye-aye
Daubentonia madagascariensis
Super Rare EN · Endangered
Field notes
- Classification
- Order Primates · Family Daubentoniidae
- Range
- Madagascar
- Size
- Body 36–43 cm (14–17 in)
- Weight
- ~2 kg (4 lb)
- Lifespan
- Up to ~20 yrs
- Diet
- Omnivore
Most Notable
It forages like no other animal: tapping bark eight times a second, it listens for the hollow echo of a hidden grub, then gnaws in and hooks it out with a long, spidery middle finger.
In parts of Madagascar it is feared as an omen of death: legend holds that if an aye-aye points its long finger at you, you are marked to die, so the animals are often killed on sight. That superstition, together with forest loss, has helped push the species toward extinction.
Its front teeth never stop growing, like a rodent's, and for years it was mistaken for a giant squirrel rather than the lemur and primate it actually is.
It fills the ecological role of a woodpecker on an island that has none, using its tapping finger and gnawing teeth to reach grubs no other animal can find.
The world's largest nocturnal primate, it moves through the treetops at night, its huge reflective eyes and enormous ears tuned to a forest most animals sleep through.
Range: Rainforest and dry forest of Madagascar.