Aye-aye

The aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) is a lemur which lives in rain forests of Madagascar, a large island off the southeast coast of Africa.(madagascar). Also, the aye-aye is a small animal.

Aye-aye
File:Aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis).jpg
An aye-aye eating banana flowers
Conservation status
File:Status iucn3.1 NT.svg Near Threatened (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Primates
Suborder:	Strepsirrhini
Infraorder:	Lemuriformes
Family:	Daubentoniidae Gray, 1863
Genus:	Daubentonia É. Geoffroy, 1795
Binomial name
Daubentonia madagascariensis

This solitary animal is nocturnal (most active at night). The aye-aye spends most of its time in trees. During the day, it sleeps in a nest in the fork of a tree. It builds the nest out of leaves and twigs.

The aye-aye has rodent-like teeth and a special thin middle finger to get at the insect grubs under tree bark. It fills the same ecological niche as woodpeckers do elsewhere. It taps on trees to find grubs, then gnaws holes in the wood using its forward slanting incisors. Then it sticks in its middle finger to pull the grubs out.

Lemurs are primates, and so are related to monkeys, apes, and me

Aye-aye Media

• Aye-Aye Daubentonia madagascariensis in Stockholm.jpg

  Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis) on display at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockhom.

• Aye-Aye Daubentonia madagascariensis in Copenhagen (Left Hand).jpg

  Closeup of the hand showing the elongated digits and the thinner third digit

• Daubentonia madagascariensis 3d scan Natural History Museum University of Pisa C 1065.stl

  3d scan of the skull of Daubentonia madagascariensis

• Ayeaye, Daubentonia madagascariensis, Joseph Wolf.jpg

  An aye-aye foraging, c. 1863, Joseph Wolf

• Gnawed limb, Daubentonia madagascariensis.jpg

  Gnawed limb by an aye-aye to prey on larvae

• Aye-aye at night in the wild in Madagascar.jpg

  Aye-Aye photographed at night in the wild in Madagascar

• Daubentonia madagascariensis - dead 01.jpg

  Aye-ayes are commonly thought to be bad omens by some of the Malagasy people, although other legends consider them a good omen. When spotted, they are killed on sight and hung up so that the evil spirit will be carried away by travelers.